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Castor brushed aside his wide draw to flash home in style in the $80,000 Class 3 Polytrack race (1000m) on Friday.
The Greenwood Lake four-year-old came into the race on the back of a dominant win at his last start, where he cruised to a sizeable 3 ¾-length win over One United in a Class 4 race over 1000m on June 12.
This time, he was tackling a better grade and there were questions whether he would still prevail, let alone duplicate his dominant run.
But they could not have been answered in more unequivocal manner.
Sebas (Alan Munro) jumped on the bunny from the get-go with Sure Win (Manoel Nunes) and Best Tothelign (John Powell) nipping at his heels. Drawn wide in barrier No 13, Castor did well to settle in fourth, before leaping at the leading trio at the top of the straight.
Once he got clear, there was only going to be one winner as he ran off with the race to hit the post two-and-a-half lengths ahead of Best Tothelign. Eaton’s Gold came from midfield to finish third, a further two lengths away.
The winning time was a smart 58.26secs on the Polytrack.
Thrilled with the win, jockey Nooresh Juglall was thankful for the opportunity to ride Castor.
“He is a very smart horse and he has a very bright future ahead of him,” said the Mauritian hoop.
“(Trainer) John (O'Hara) and the team gave very good instructions on how best to ride him, such things like he takes time to get into his stride and he has a tendency to hang in. This definitely helped me to ride him more confidently.
“He looks more than capable of running up to 1200m, but he is winning well over 1000m and 1100m. So I definitely have no problems with him continuing at this distance.
“Big thanks to John and the owners for putting me on him.”
O’Hara was glad to see the New Zealand-bred gelding back to winning ways.
“Tonight I had expected him to run well but Sebas was a worry as he is the sort that gets to the front and does not stop,” said O’Hara.
“Another worry was that he wasn’t as fresh as his last start. He had a problem with his leg as he had torn his right fore tendon before and I was afraid it might flare up.
“I feel my horse wants more ground but there are no immediate plans for him until we are sure his leg problems are behind him. But he is definitely a horse that has lots of potential.”
With this win, Castor has brought home stakes winnings in excess of $225,000 for the IB Racing Stable.