SO what’s the perfect racehorse. They’re probably difficult to find, but you’d say one that can work forward if the barrier is favourable, sit one or two back one off and work into the race from the 450m.
Then, having conserved strength, sprint hard in the final 300m.
If you want a reasonable example of that watch MOOD winning the $30,000 XXXX Gold Plate at Caloundra late Sunday afternoon.
Poetry in motion. It was exactly the way she won two starts back, again on her home track.
Then Paul Duncan lined up again and although three weeks earlier she had won on heavy footing this time she did not manage to handle it and finished mid-field. missed the start.
This time Ryan Moloney put her straight into the race and waited until the 500m when it was time to press the button, after which MOOD exploded away late to win a cigarette packet width short of two lengths.
Although now 6-years-old, MOOD has had just 11 lifetime starts and the wait has been beneficial since Paul Duncan got her over from New Zealand.
Mood does not carry a huge amount of condition, but carefully handled, which is typical of Paul Duncan, she will win her share from this point.
A reasonable level of rain-affected ground does not bother her.