Talented stablemates Persian Wonder and Krasina both broke their maidens at Canterbury, with the former achieving it through a determined effort.
Persian Wonder, who had shown promise in notable autumn two-year-old events such as the Group 3 Baillieu Handicap (1400m) where he finished second, was positioned in second place and appeared to be under significant pressure nearing the home turn in Wednesday’s Robrick Lodge Handicap (1200m).
However, under a strong ride from Zac Lloyd, the colt dug deep in the closing stages to pass the leader Yoshida by a clear length and achieve a hard-fought victory.
“It’s obviously not the way to ride him, but I thought I’d give him every chance to tough it out, and that he did,” Lloyd commented. “As you can see in his past few replays, he is quite a lazy horse and he’s going to benefit when he gets a bit of headgear on. We’ve just got to wait for him to be mentally ready.
“I knew he was going to keep responding, and once he got a couple of reminders, he really stretched and went on with the job.”
Lloyd and trainer David Payne celebrated another success a race later when Krasina ($1.80 fav) bounced back from an unlucky third at Randwick last month to claim her maiden in the Bisley Workwear Handicap (1200m).
Payne was absent, but Lloyd expressed his delight in securing a midweek double for the respected horseman, noting the long-standing connection between the Lloyd and Payne families, including Zac Lloyd’s father, Jeff Lloyd.
“Lloyd and Payne go a long way back, so it’s good when I can ride winners for David,” Zac Lloyd stated. “It was good to see her be able to put herself in a spot where you’re not relying so much on luck.
“The form was there. She was the best horse in the race, so I rode her accordingly and she has done that very comfortably.”
Despite having a limited number of runners, Payne possesses a promising group of emerging three-year-olds, including Bangkok Hottie, who won at Randwick in April and is slated to trial at Rosehill on Friday ahead of the Princess Series.
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