Track test awaits joby

Stakes performer Joby is back in winning form and his part-owner and trainer Bryce Newman is now keen on a stern test of the four-year-old’s versatility. The WS graduate was successful for the fourth time in his career when he scored at Waverley this afternoon to set up a visit to the capital.

“We’ll go to Wellington next to see if he can really swim!” Newman said. “He’s a pretty honest little guy and he’s much better sitting in behind them.” Placed in last season’s Listed Southland Guineas, Joby has so far posted his wins on both good and dead tracks.

A son of the late WS resident No Excuse Needed, Joby was bred by the farm with former New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing chairman Guy Sargent. Sold for $28,000 at Karaka in 2013, he is out of the O’Reilly mare Live It Up and the family of the Group One winners O’Marilyn (Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes), Anacheeva (Caulfield Guineas) and Headturner (Australian Derby).