Extra trip ideal for Ocean Park’s son
A step up in distance to 2000 metres was all Roller Coaster required at Coffs Harbour on Friday afternoon to post a deserved victory.
The Paul Shailer-trained son of Ocean Park had been a minor placegetter in his previous two appearances and those efforts saw the Waikato Stud graduate start a warm favourite.
“He has kept improving with each run and this time got to a suitable trip after hitting the line strongly when second at Newcastle,” stable representative Hamish Chapman said.
Roller Coaster, who also benefitted from a 6kg drop in weight, improved from the back near the turn and produced a stout finishing run in the straight for rider Andrew Mallyon to record the fourth win of his career.
He was bought out of Riversley Park’s New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale draft by Hughes Bloodstock for $80,000 and is out of the late Pins mare Curvy, whose three foals to race have all been successful.
Curvy was from the family of the Australasian and European Group 1 winner and successful sire Starcraft, a star graduate of Waikato Stud.
The Corner with Garry Chittick
It would appear I now have to continue my weekly Corner with the amount of rumblings at the start of our new racing season. I have been around long enough to know we can never please all; my tenure as Chairman of the Racing Board was subjected to as much vitriol as subsequent Boards have had to bear, so what’s different this time, or is it different.
Read More
First foal for Waikato’s Group 1 winner Skew Wiff
Group 1-winning Savabeel mare Skew Wiff (ex Starvoia), known affectionately as ‘Wiffy’, foaled a filly by Super Seth in the early hours of Wednesday, 5 August.
Read More