In an era of acute pre-race analysis, it’s interesting to see a horse defy the pattern of the day and a jockey with the fortitude to back himself to buck the trend.
When PONTEVICO drew the outside alley in the 1200m 3yo Maiden at the Sunshine Coast Sunday, the marketplace allowed the promising 3yo to drift into double figures. Then when rider Boris Thornton eased the horse to the rear and elected to make his run on the fence, the pundits looked vindicated.
However, nobody told PONTEVICO who dashed through the inside in the slower going to score a dominant last to first victory at just his second start.
“Thought I’d be better off finding the shortest way home on the inside despite the inferior ground because there were a lot of average horses off the fence who weren’t going to take us anywhere,” said Thornton.
“He doesn’t know how to put them away yet but he’ll take great confidence out of that.”
The big son of ASTERN is a half-brother to the late former stablemate and seven time winner, PARTY FOR TWO, and trainer Matt Hoysted feels there is considerable improvement to come.
“He’s certainly been a slow maturing type. It’s taken a while for the penny to drop but I think he can now go on with it perhaps over a bit further,” Hoysted said.
The victory was Proven’s 31st for the season and the second maiden winner from our Queensland stable in the past week.
PONTEVICO was a $50,000 Inglis Classic Yearling from Telemon Stud’s draft. With the QTIS bonus prizemoney, the 3yo earned back more than half his price tag on Sunday.
