4yo gelding HANG FIVE chalked up his fourth career victory with a tenacious effort at Warwick on Monday.
The son of ASTERN had question marks over him given the tough run he had at the Sunny Coast at his prior start, when beaten more than 13 lengths.
“The big query for him is whether he goes flat after being caught wide over 1400m last time,” times analyst Nic Ashman said in his pre-race report to owners.
“Our data shows 1200m is his best trip so coming back in distance is a good thing but how much did that take out of him?”
Fortunately, some astute placement and training nous by Matt Hoysted and Steve O’Dea helped HANG FIVE ($3.70) find his way back into the winners’ circle.
The gelding sat fifth in running before jockey Justin Huxtable swung wide around the bend with the pair launching late to defeat CELESTIAL HARBOUR ($3.10) by 0.2L with another 2.3L to DISCERNING ($4.80) in third.
“He was the class of the field coming into this but to be fair the track didn’t really suit him,” Huxtable said.
“He wanted to veer off coming to the first turn. He was never really travelling.
“We got to the better ground in the straight and full credit to the horse he found the line well and we came out on top.”
HANG FIVE, a $45,000 yearling purchase from Glenlogan Park’s draft at the 2021 Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale, became our 9th winner in the last 27 days, and 51st for the season which concludes on July 31.