Outovstock causes Manawatu Classic upset

[Wandering Eyes]

Outovstock clears his rivals to score an upset in Saturday’s Group 3 Manawatu Classic (2100m) at Trentham. Photo: Race Images PN

Waikato horseman Chad Ormsby is making a habit of landing major prizes at Trentham with three-year-olds that he was unable to sell at the Ready to Run Sale.

Ormsby scored an +1700 upset victory in Saturday’s Group 3 Manawatu Classic (2100m) with Outovstock, who he bought for $50,000 as a yearling at Karaka before passing him in with a $150,000 reserve at the 2022 Ready to Run Sale.

A similar script produced Group 1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) glory on March 16 with Pulchritudinous, who was a $32,500 yearling purchase and fell short of her $50,000 reserve at the Ready to Run Sale. Ormsby’s Oaks heroine banked $390,000 in prize-money before being sold to clients of Sydney trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.

Outovstock took his own earnings to the brink of $100,000 with Saturday’s Manawatu Classic heroics, which came in his first appearance at black-type level.

“We’ve had a pretty good run with these horses that we couldn’t sell,” Ormsby said. “We try to back ourselves with the horses that we buy and then offer at the Ready to Run Sale. To get results like this win today, along with what the filly did in the Oaks, it’s so rewarding and it really enhances our Riverrock Farm brand. We want to be known for producing quality racetrack performers.”

Outovstock has made giant strides over the course of his three-year-old season. The son of Tavistock finished seventh or eighth in all of his first three appearances in the spring, but has come back a different horse in the summer and autumn.

He showed promising signs with fourth placings in his first two runs back, then came of age with a stylish maiden win over 1600m at Pukekohe on February 21. The runner-up in that race was Investigate, who filled the same placing behind him in Saturday’s Manawatu Classic.

In his only start since that maiden win, Outovstock stretched out over 2100m for the first time with a brave second in testing heavy ground at Tauranga on March 23.

Outovstock arrived at Trentham with a formline on an upward trajectory, but it still paled in comparison to some of his rivals in Saturday’s $120,000 feature – most notably the odds-on favourite Just As Sharp, who had chased home superstar filly Orchestral when third in the Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m), second in the Group 2 Avondale Guineas (2100m) and fourth in the Group 1 New Zealand Derby (2400m).

Just As Sharp had the right run to live up to his -166.67 odds, and rider Ryan Elliot drove him to the lead early in the run home. But then Outovstock and Investigate emerged from the pack and turned the race on its head.

They powered past the favourite in the blink of an eye, with Outovstock pulling ahead of Investigate to win impressively by two and a quarter lengths. Investigate took second, with Just As Sharp another length and a half away in third.

“We came into today with our fingers crossed that he might be able to produce a performance like that,” Ormsby said. “Getting up over ground has definitely been the making of him. Michael McNab said he’s still racing quite keenly and has a bit more to learn, but the further he goes, the better he’s going to be.

“He’s probably still six months away. I think he’s going to make a lovely four-year-old in time. But he showed today what he’s capable of, and I think that pedigree came through a little bit as well.

“We’ve ended up being lucky with how it’s all panned out. The New Zealand Derby was originally our target, but he wasn’t quite ready for it and we changed tack. We unfortunately struck that heavy track last start, but he surprised me with the way he really stuck his neck out and tried hard. It was a strong performance in his first time up over ground, and it gave us a bit of confidence that he might be competitive today.

“He won that pretty impressively, so we might have to think about the Queensland Derby (Group 1, 2400m). That’s not too far away now, so we’ll probably give him 10 days in the paddock for now and then see what happens from there.”

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