A somewhat jesting Dylan Gibbons conceded that fellow jockey Tyler Schiller was entitled to a portion of his riding fee, having secured victory in the opening race at Rosehill aboard the Hawkes Racing youngster, Marwooba.
The two-year-old was making a rapid return from Canterbury on Monday, where he finished sixth over 1250m with Schiller in the saddle. However, Schiller’s prior engagements in Queensland meant he was unavailable to continue with Marwooba, leading to Gibbons being booked for the ride in Saturday’s Kia Ora Bloodlines to Headlines Handicap (1400m).
“I probably have to send half of that fee to Tyler,” Gibbons quipped.
“He told me the back-up wouldn’t worry him, and he did tell me he held his breath last start and they put some winkers on, so fair play to him. But I’ll take this one.”
By Wootton Bassett, Marwooba, a $400,000 Magic Millions yearling acquisition, provided Hawkes Racing with their second Sydney Saturday metropolitan two-year-old triumph in as many weeks, following Why So Hard’s success at Randwick seven days prior.
The juvenile was only nominated after the extension of entries for the race, with stable representative Steve Thompson explaining that they opted to take a chance after the colt had a ‘smooth’ run at Canterbury.
“His performance on Monday was like a piece of trackwork. He settled back from a wide barrier and simply flew home over the final 200 metres as if it were a trial,” Thompson commented.
“When the nominations were extended – this horse has a robust constitution – we decided to enter him and monitor his recovery during the week, and he’s responded exceptionally well.”
Marwooba ($7), expertly positioned by Gibbons behind the leaders, experienced a minor check in the straight before finding an opening and advancing to challenge odds-on favourite Friendly Fire, who had shot through along the fence to take the lead.
However, Marwooba finished with greater authority than the recent winner, finishing 1-1/4 lengths clear of Friendly Fire. Iminastate ($8.50) claimed the minor placing, another 2-1/2 lengths further back.
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