In-form four-year-old Del Palio continues to surpass expectations with the gelding posting his third win in a row at Sandown.
Co-trainer Cindy Alderson had her doubts that the son of Invincible Spirit, bred by her mother Lynn, would amount to much as a younger horse.
But his fourth win in 13 starts in Wednesday’s Sportingbet Handicap (1300m) was arguably his best yet.
“I didn’t like him very much as a young horse,” Alderson said.
“I thought he was a bit weak. He was a big, slabby young fellow and he is just starting to fill his frame out now so hopefully there are better wins in store.”
Jockey Steven Arnold said that with 59.5kg on Wednesday it was a good test for Del Palio and he predicted many more wins ahead.
“He was meeting a reasonable field today with a big weight but he put them away well,” Arnold said.
“He’s got a nice turn of foot which will win him plenty of races.”
Arnold rode Del Palio at his previous start when he won over 1300 metres at Sandown on January 11 while Dean Yendall won on him over 1200 metres at Sandown on December 21.
Alderson had reservations about Del Palio’s chances on Wednesday but could see the horse had the field covered halfway up the straight.
“I thought it would be hard for him but Steve worked it out that he needed to be closer in the run,” Alderson said.
“Sometimes when we made use of him as a younger horse he wasn’t able to do it but he seemed pretty dominant today.”
Charging down the centre of the track, Del Palio scored a three-quarter length win over It’s Crunch Time with the same margin to Zuckerberg.
“He is still waiting for them a little bit so there is a bit of improvement to come,” Alderson said.