Trainer Steven Burridge had a good day at the office with a winning treble courtesy of Golden Lido, Hint and Shaolin Soldier on Sunday.
While the victory of $18 second favourite Golden Lido and $15 favourite Shaolin Soldier were more or less expected, Hint was a big question mark after he drew the second worst in the 14-horse field in the $55,000 Class 4 race over 1600m.
But a vintage ride with a bit of ducking and weaving by leading jockey Vlad Duric went a long way in steering the son of Reset home, half a length ahead of a back-in-form Solid Wood (John Powell) with Van Basten (Barend Vorster) third another head away.
The winning time was 1min 36.52secs.
Owned by the Arexevan Racing Stable, Hint has proven to be a useful moneyspinner. That fourth win from 24 starts has now swollen his stakes haul to more than $150,000 for the bunch of Australian expats behind the outfit.
But even Burridge was not too optimistic the chestnut gelding could prevail after drawing off the track.
“It’s a bit of a surprise as he had drawn so wide, but he’s come a bit more solid after he was gelded last year,” said the 2010 champion trainer.
“He copped a bit of a rough passage in the running but Vlad showed plenty of patience and allowed him to settle into stride.
“It looked like he was in trouble in the home straight but luckily, he got the split at the right time.
“He went to Malaysia last year and went on and off after that. But he’s been coming right at his last couple of runs and it’s great to see him winning today.”
Duric said the race was not exactly panning out the way he had wanted in the early stages, but the gelding’s fighting spirit saw him overcome a chequered passage.
“We were caught wide early, but then at the 700m a horse came along one off and checked us,” said Duric.
“That actually helped him come through to the inside and in the straight, after he got into the clear, he just sprinted away nicely.
“He’s such a lovely and honest horse.”
Hint has pulled up well after the run and will look to step up in class with his next assignment a $75,000 Benchmark 74 Handicap over 2000 metres on Sunday
24th April, 2011. Vlad Duric will once again take the ride in a field with eight nominations.
