Ryan Maloney produced a standout performance at Doomben on Saturday, racking up four winners on the card, including both of the meeting’s $160,000 Listed races.
The Victorian-born jockey kicked off his feature race haul aboard the well-backed $2.50 favourite Midnight In Tokyo in the Tattersall’s Classic (1200m), before delivering a narrow but determined victory in the Recognition Stakes.
In the 1350-metre event, Maloney guided $7.50 chance Rockribbed to a nose win, denying stablemate Boomtown Boss, the $3.20 favourite who struck interference at the 150-metre mark that proved costly.
“I’ve had a bit of luck going my way with a few of the boys being on the sidelines and I was the lucky one to pick up the, well, not scraps by any means,” Maloney said of his four winners.
Rockribbed’s victory marked a sharp rebound from his ninth-place finish in the Keith Noud Classic (1200m) first-up. Maloney admitted that while circumstances favoured them, the ride was hardly straightforward.
“He began really nicely, just trucked into the straight and I didn’t have any options bar to go back to the inside, but he was too good,” he said.
Maloney had no such concerns with Midnight In Tokyo, who snapped an 18-month winless streak with a dominant 1-3/4-length success over Lonhro’s Queen for Annabel and Rob Archibald.
“We controlled it and as soon as I released the brakes at the top of the straight I was basically just a passenger and lucky enough to be on her.”
The Tattersall’s Classic victory followed Maloney’s earlier win for the Archibald stable aboard Space Tracker ($4), which came after opening the meeting with success on Silver Wedding ($1.90) for Ciaron Maher.
With Ben Thompson unavailable, Maloney capitalised on the opportunity, stretching his lead in the Brisbane Metropolitan Jockeys’ Premiership to eight wins — now sitting 40 to 32.
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