Plagiarism achieved his first career victory in dominant fashion, overpowering his rivals to claim the Group 3 $250,000 Up And Coming Stakes (1300m) at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
Co-trainer Adrian Bott expressed no surprise at the win, attributing much of the gelding’s success to the decision to geld him after his juvenile season.
“We have had him in all the biggest races so far, we haven’t run him in maidens, and that was his first win today,” Bott explained. “Last preparation we chased the Golden Slipper dream but it just wasn’t happening for him. I feel having the horse gelded has helped him, definitely. He was impressive today.”
Controlled by Regan Bayliss, Plagiarism ($8) dictated the terms of the race and was never seriously tested, winning by almost a length from the fast-finishing Genesis Runner ($4.40). Hostwin King ($17) finished a further half-length back in third.
The favourite, Savagram ($2.30), from the same stable, closed well to secure fourth place.
Bayliss conveyed to Racing And Sports that he felt confident for a significant period of the race due to Plagiarism’s fluid movement.
“He is a horse that can roll along at a nice speed and quicken off that which is a really good attribute to have,” Bayliss stated. “When he got there so easily and got into a great rhythm I thought it was going to take a good one to run him down. He was just too good. He keeps improving, this horse and that was a really good confidence-boosting win. He’s still only lightly raced and is on the way up.”
Bott, who trains alongside Gai Waterhouse, mentioned that their initial thoughts of targeting races like the Tapp-Craig and Callander-Presnell would now be reconsidered after Plagiarism’s strong performance.
“We will look at the Golden Rose,” Bott commented. “There is probably a sweet spot getting out to 1400m for this horse. I thought he might have been a step below the top three-year-olds but he was very impressive today. He is a horse that has always shown natural speed and brilliance. We wanted to see him utilise that and he executed that perfectly. It was a great effort by him first-up with a big weight and he has obviously taken improvement from the run. We will see how he comes through this and look to where we aim up but everything is on the table at present.”
Bott also highlighted the merit in Savagram’s run.
“I thought he was excellent,” Bott said. “It was his second career start and that was probably what showed today. When the speed increased from the 600m he just wanted to lay out slightly under pressure. But I thought he knuckled down really well and was excellent through the line. He is going to keep improving as he gets up over further and I thought it was a very good run for where he is at in his career.”
The filly Savvy Diamond, also from the Waterhouse-Bott stable, experienced interference early in the race and finished eighth.
Consider exploring Australian betting sites for the most competitive racing odds.