Raw ability on show as gelding ‘goes boom’
BONNIE Thomson knew from the moment the gates opened at Cannon Park, she was in the saddle of something good.
That thought was only confirmed as boom gelding Derulo stormed to a 6.75-length win on debut on a heavy (8) track in Cairns on Thursday.
It was a race the Townsville jockey said she wouldn’t soon forget, as the raw ability of Derulo shone through his green nature on the track.
It was a mammoth effort to put that much distance on second-placed Fiveaclocksomewhere (Peter Cullen) after Derulo sprayed wide off the turn from home and finished the race against the outside rail.
“I think he is going to be one exciting horse,” Thomson said.
Derulo shot from the gates and put close to eight lengths on the field before the first turn in the QTIS 2YO Maiden Handicap over 950m.
His wide run on the home turn gave his opposition a chance to close the gap, but they never came near overtaking after he exploded at the 200m mark.
“I only hit him the once and that is when he just took off. It was just a matter of holding him on the track,” Thomson said.
“I couldn’t hear anything coming up behind me. I knew we had it wrapped up.
“(Trainer Rodney Miller) told me he hadn’t been hit with the whip and said he would likely go boom. He went boom all right, right to the outside fence.
“He is going to be a really nice horse when he puts it all together. I don’t think it will take him long either. I know the next time he gets in the gates, you will see a different horse.”
Miller bagged himself a running double at Cairns on Thursday afternoon, with sixyear-old gelding Via Balciano getting the chocolates in the second, with Stephen Wilson in the saddle.
Racing in north Queensland continues this Thursday at Townsville’s Cluden Park.