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Jake Bayliss’ impact on New Zealand racing went to a new level at Ellerslie on Saturday.
The Victorian jockey arrived last month to principally ride for Michael Moroney and Pam Gerrard and their fellow Matamata trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott and the winners have subsequently flowed.
Bayliss was successful aboard the G1 Sistema Railway favourite Volpe Veloce in the Ray White NZ (1200m) on Saturday and he then broke through at black type level aboard Spring Heat in the G3 Hynds Holdings Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m).“This means the world to me, it doesn’t matter whether it’s in Australia or New Zealand - it’s a Group Three race,” he said.
Trained by O’Sullivan and Scott, Spring Heat bridged the gap from a last-start maiden win at Hawke’s Bay to trounce a smart field of three-year-olds.The daughter of More Than Ready settled three back on the rail and once Bayliss angled her into the clear she quickly put paid to her opposition.
“I had to bide my time and she’s still very green, but when I gave her one around her backside she really knuckled down,” he said.Spring Heat hit top gear 250m from home and bolted clear to beat Xbox, who did well after missing the start, and the pacemaker The Great Southern. Warm favourite Prom Queen raced outside the leader and boxed on fairly for fourth.
“I’ll talk to Lance and he’ll map out a plan, but the Eight Carat is probably the logical race,” Scott said.“She got a bit lost turning for home and got to the middle of the track and really quickened. It’s really encouraging for the rest of the summer and the autumn.
“Jake’s got a wonderful work ethic and he deserves everything he gets.”