JOCKEY’S EPIC DAY
WELL-BRED filly Iowa helped trainer Chris Waller continue his domination of Queensland metropolitan middle-distance races but her career as a stayer could be short-lived.
Iowa ($1.80 favourite), who is raced by prominent Gold Coast owners Henderson Racing and Breeding, is a granddaughter of champion sprinter Alinghi but showed stamina to win a maiden over 1800m at Aquis Park yesterday.
It gave Waller his 11th metropolitan winner from his Gold Coast stable which was set up in August.
Waller planned to target staying races in Queensland and it is working because Iowa was his eighth metropolitan winner in races longer than 1800m.
His Queensland stable foreman Paul Shailer said Iowa had shown good enough form in NSW to win an 1800m maiden at the Gold Coast.
“She has been working well and she has a metropolitan win now,” Shailer said.
“It will be up to Chris but I think 1800m might be as far she wants to go and we might drop her back to 1600m.”
Toowoomba trainer Tony Sears’ decision to change riding tactics on Bonsho ($2.50 favourite) continued to pay dividends yesterday when she won her second race in a row.
“She was a leader but kept getting attacked so we decided to ride her just off the pace and it is paying off,” Sears said.
The four-year-old mare had won her previous start at Ipswich over 1000m on November 9 and now has a record of five wins and four placings from 12 starts.