Single Choice delivers winning result at Bendigo

[Wandering Eyes]

Progressive three-year-old Single Choice (Anders) recorded the second victory of his career when running out a good winner of the Bendigo Magazine 3YO BM64 Handicap (1300m) on Wednesday for trainer Matt Cumani.

Single Choice came from last under jockey Eoin Walsh in a small field to get the better of Mongolian Gobi (NZ) (Ribchester) as he advanced his record to two wins and a runner-up finish from four starts.

“It was quite a messy race for him, you never like to see them in a small field being three wide at the back, but I think it probably ended up being a wise move,” Cumani said.

“We could have been tempted to go up the inside and potentially been stuck, because later on it was quite tight for those horses on the rail. 

“So it was nice to have him on the outside making up ground when he was ready to. We did see him lean in a little bit down the straight. I think he will get the hang of that as he strengthens up.

But it was a great win, he did it very well, I thought, it was a tough effort and for him to just keep improving it was impressive to do that off a weak race at Ballarat. I really like the way this horse is going.

“We are keen to make sure he is a horse that learns it the right way, give him cover where possible.

“At some point we may make the most of his eagerness to go forward, but he did look a bit outpaced early, the pace of the race was quite strong and that suited us and we were able to come over the top of them.

“We can be a little bit more aggressive on where we go, we have been quite careful not to jump up too much in grade, he is a gelding after all, so there is probably not that need to, but we will see if we can find a nice three-year-old race in town for him next start.”

Both Single Choice and Mongolian Gobi are graduates of last year’s New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale.

Single Choice was purchased for $80,000 from the draft of Riversley Park, while Mongolian Gobi who is a winner and also placed from three starts, was a $75,000 purchase from Pertab Racing. The New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale will be held at Karaka on November 12 and 13, with a bumper catalogue of 480 two-year-olds.

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