Missile launches Cluden Park win
STAR young galloper Grey Missile let his older rivals know he means business after his class shone through in an impressive win in the The Ville Resort-Casino Weight-ForAge (1300m) at Cluden Park yesterday.
Tolga trainer Roy Chillemi opted to run him in the $30,000 feature to test his potential against better opposition. It proved the right move when the $2.80 favourite defied being three wide for most of the trip to pip pacesetter and second-favourite Craiglea Deken ($4.20) on the line.
The win gives Grey Missile ballot-free entry into the $100,000 Lazy Yak Cleveland Bay Handicap (1300m) on July 28.
“I’m very happy with it. I’ve always had a high opinion of the horse and he’s been racing against his own age, but overracing,” Chillemi said.
“Today, against a tougher field, he got back and was three wide but still came home with a withering run.
“If he gets a better run than today in a race like the Cleveland Bay he’ll be a chance … Not everything went our way but we still got the money, that’s the good thing.”
Chillemi had the option of running Grey Missile in yesterday’s Stockland Townsville Dollars for threeyear-olds, but was ecstatic he pulled the right rein.
“I could have put him in the three-year-old 1400m race, but he’d have got 62kg and would overrace, and I’d never know how good he is,” Chillemi said.
“I had to step him into open company to see what he was made of, and he showed it today.
“I don’t think it would have mattered what they did today. If they slackened the pace off we would have been handier, and he had the more powerful finish.”
Trainer Ben Williams and jockey Scott Sheargold joined forces for two wins yesterday with Our Alicia’s Lane ($2.20 fav) in the Mater Health Services QTIS Two-Year-Old Handicap (1200m) and Easy Weekend ($4.30) in the Lazy Yak Race to the Reef – Heat – Open Handicap (1000m).