Leroy Brown put the handlebars down and strung the race right out, leading by upwards of six lengths coming down the side of the track.
The leader rolled off the fence rounding the home turn, and Elliot spotted a golden path along the rail. Waitak never went around a horse, bursting through the inside as the in-form Taranaki raider Herbert tackled a tiring Leroy Brown.
Herbert briefly took the lead at the 200m mark, but then Waitak charged past him and powered clear, opening up a winning margin of three lengths. Herbert held on for second, a length in front of Aegon and Wild Night.
“I got a good run along the inside in the Kiwi last week (on the fourth-placed Sought After), but I never knew Blake was going to come through underneath me like he did,” Elliot said. “I thought I might try to do the same thing today.
“Not many horses are going wide and making up much ground today, so we tried our luck and it paid off.
“He travelled fine all the way. He’s a big old horse who gets into his rhythm, breathes well and finds his stride. He just needs a bit of room, and then away he goes.
“He’s the sort of horse where a lot of his performances say ‘next time, next time’, but he’s done a great job today.
“It’s good to get a Group winner in these Wexford colours. I’ve hardly ever ridden for them before, but I’ve been doing a bit of work for them here and there and it’s starting to pay off.”
Elliot’s ride earned high praise from Waitak’s co-trainer Lance O’Sullivan, whose own glittering career in the saddle earned him induction into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame.
“That was some win, and what a ride by Ryan,” O’Sullivan said. “He was a long way off them, and coming through the inside proved to be the winning of the race. The horse won with a bit in hand as well, which was great to see.”
Bred by the late Colin Devine and raced by his widow Jill, Waitak has had 30 starts for five wins, nine placings and $860,237. He has been a quality performer over a range of distances, from his 1200m heroics in last year’s Railway to his second in the Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (2100m) and fifth in the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) as a three-year-old two summers ago.
“I’m just thrilled for his owners,” O’Sullivan said. “The horse has been running terrific races, but has been plagued by a fair bit of bad luck this season. It was good to see him get his chance today and do what he did.
“He’s super versatile. He’s been performing well over the shorter trips lately, but we just ran out of options there and Andrew and I elected to run him over a bit further again. It’s just a great result today.”
– LOVERACING.NZ News Desk.
