Racing: Julius shows ominous form

Jason Waddell and Julius cruise to victory at Te Rapa on Saturday. Photo / Trish Dunell

Talented sprinter Julius returned to action in Saturday's Allied Security 1200 at Te Rapa and turned in a dominant performance in an ominous sign of things to come.

The patiently handled seven-year-old notched the seventh victory of his career after absorbing the early pressure from eventual placegetters Resurrect and Contessa Vanessa to stamp himself as the horse to beat in the Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m) on August 18.

"He's only seventy-five or eighty-five per cent fit really," winning trainer John Bell said.

"What he did was more than satisfactory and we will look after him for the next two weeks and come back for the Foxbridge."

Bell said a start in the Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m) at Hastings on September 1 would depend how he came through his next assignment.

The Cambridge-trained galloper has never finished out of the placings in his 11 career starts.

Winning rider Jason Waddell was delighted with the return of one of the country's most exciting gallopers.

"They were just running themselves into the ground taking him on," Waddell said. "It is a bad way to try and race against him because he's a heart-breaker. He showed his class with 59.5kgs fresh-up and he hasn't been wound up at all.

"I've got a pretty easy job. He's an uncomplicated horse to ride and all credit goes to John and the staff.

"It would be very easy to get carried away with a horse like him, but they've played the long-game and given him time to mature, so I really hope they reap the rewards that they deserve." Waddell said Julius would be more effective on a better surface than the Heavy10 track at Te Rapa.

"I didn't want to ride him like that as we've been teaching him to settle, but I just had to play the percentages today and use his good gate-speed and lead on him. He really would be better on a better track."

A son of Swiss Ace, Julius is now the $9 equal favourite for the Tarzino Trophy with Group One winners Melody Belle and Start Wondering.

• Young Japanese apprentice jockey Taiki Yanagida may have some good-natured ribbing coming his way this morning after he guided the Lee Somervell trained Stradivarius to victory at Te Rapa on the weekend.

Yanagida is apprenticed to the Matamata training partnership of Lance O'Sullivan and Andrew Scott and it was stable runner Andoyas who Stradivarius held out in a desperate finish to the 1400m contest.

Somervell offered the mount on Stradivarius to Yanagida after the O'Sullivan-Scott team opted for experienced jockey Michael Coleman to ride Andoyas. It was an inspired decision as Yanagida produced a first-class effort to guide Stradivarius home after leading throughout.

"Credit to Taiki as I told him if he was going to lead he had to be a length clear so they wouldn't niggle at him," said Somervell. "This was a lovely ride and the ride of a boy destined to go places."

More often a bridesmaid than a bride, the victory took the six-year-old Stravinsky gelding's record to three wins from 40 starts with another 18 minor placings.

Former Hong Kong galloper Andoyas caught the eye with his sparkling finish, one of the few horses to make ground from the rear on a day where on-pace runners were favoured.

The eight-year-old German bred runner looks a ready-made prospect for some of the feature summer staying events for a group of well-known owners that include former NZ cricketer Simon Doull, former NZ soccer player and coach Ricki Herbert and Waikato Racing Club chief executive Ken Rutherford.

- NZ Racing Desk