Jerome Hunter may have a smart two-year-old on his hands after Thron Bone made it two wins in two weeks, taking out the Next Gen Sprinters Final at Flemington

First seen running fourth to Daumier in the Listed Blue Diamond Preview (1000m) for colts and geldings back in January, Thron Bone was tipped out and brought back as a late season two-year-old, a move which has delivered results.

A somewhat surprising winner at Caulfield over boom filly Ghaanati last week, trainer Jerome Hunter cited the colt’s maturity for not racing over the Autumn and expected further improvement with racing.

“The best part is he’s still got a lot more to learn… once the penny drops, I think we’ve got quite a nice horse,” Hunter said last week.

That improvement was on show today down the straight at Flemington with Hunter noting how well the young horse handled the quick backup.

“For this horse to back up like that, it’s great credit to the staff and also Graeme Gathercole (owner & breeder), he lets me choose where I want to have the horses. He said it was up to me whether I backed him up, if I thought he was ready to go and I appreciate that too,” Hunter said.

Apprentice jockey Will Price has ridden the horse at both starts and echoed those thoughts, noting how well he handled the straight.

“It was all foreign to him, down the straight today. I was pretty taken by his win last start, for him to come here today and back it up a week later, Jerome’s done a terrific job just keeping him happy. He looked great and he’s very professional,” Price said.

“I think the world’s his oyster at the moment… I think he’ll go through his grades nicely and find a pretty nice mark.”

No plans have yet been made on Thron Bone’s Spring targets, with Hunter suggesting the colt’s breeding (by Thronum) would lend itself to sprinting trips.