Pins Colt All Class

Matamata trainer Peter McKay found the perfect race at Ruakaka today for his exciting galloper Antonio Lombardo to kick-start his three-year-old career. The well-performed son of Pins was, as expected, in a class of his own when he resumed in the Listed Northland Breeders’ Stakes.

Courtesy of his outstanding juvenile form, Antonio Lombardo was the highest-rated horse in the line-up on 86 points so was ideally-placed under the set-weight conditions. Under rider Sam Spratt, he had to work early to cross from his outside gate and was able to dictate terms in front from the 800 metre mark. The colt lengthened stride effortlessly in the straight and cruised home to score by five and a-half lengths.

Antonio Lombardo, who also picked up an extra $30,000 today under the TBS scheme bonus, will now head to Hastings for the Gr 2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas. He won three of his nine starts last season including the Gr 3 Waikato Stud 2YO Classic and the Listed Wellesley Stakes. He was also runner-up in the Karaka Million and then pushed star juvenile Anabandana to a photo finish in the Gr 1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes. Antonio Lombardo has not been nominated for the New Zealand 2000 Guineas with the Levin Classic his preferred Gr 1 target this preparation.