SHAM WOWS IN GEELONG WIN
A BRILLIANT run up the straight gave What A Sham her breakthrough win on Friday in the Toddy & Kingy Time-Honoured Maiden.
Having jumped from barrier 11, jockey Billy Egan steered the four-year-old mare around the bunched pack to steal victory from Keppel Bay.
Egan said his plan had delivered after finding himself at the back of the field early in the 1218m race.
“It worked out nice from the bad alley,” he said.
“I let her find her feet and they ended up spreading out and we ended up slotting in behind Zac Spain (on Age Of Innocence) and he was always going to take us somewhere
“So I just followed him for as long as I could and she was very willing to come into it at the top of the straight but I was probably a little concerned because she probably just lacked that 100m in her last preparation, but she has matured a bit, so it was a bit hard to say until she did it.”
The Patrick Payne-trained daughter of Shamexpress had
previously placed three times without saluting, but What A Sham’s recent jump outs had left an impression on Egan,
who said there was still plenty of room for further improvement in her.
“She has certainly matured into a better horse and is just running out a full race now,” he said.
“I still think she has got improvement in her as well, because I probably wouldn’t have wanted much more of a challenge from a better horse today but I think she should
take natural improvement. She is a good size, she just needs to put the finishing touches on her race now.”
The Toddy & Kingy TimeHonoured Maiden was first held in 2013, and is the brainchild of local media personality Tom King and his good mate Todd Nicolich.
The race has become a fixture of the Geelong Racing Club calendar.