Gottaluv Pegus

Mark Pegus completed a successful debut raid of Adelaide riches on Saturday when stablefavourite Gottaluvjimmy, $20, surged clear to win a benchmark 60 event at Morphettville.

The five-year-old son of Jimmy Creed raced wide with cover throughout the 1100-metre contest and was strong to the line late, overcoming race favourite Damascus Moment, $2.25. He then held off a fast-finishing Grandma Gail, $41.

It was the gelding’s second win this preparation, following on from his first-up victory at his home track back in early December.

The Stawell-trained galloper has been racing well in stronger company in Melbourne and the drop in grade ensured Pegus’ first runner at Morphettville came home a winner.

“He’s been racing out of his grade in benchmark 70s but running well,” Pegus said.

“If you really looked at his form it reads a lot better than the numbers suggest. His didn’t have much luck in his last run at Stawell on January 7 and he wasn’t far off Asfoora that ran third in a Group Three on the weekend.

“In his last run at The Valley on January 29, Joshy Richards jumped off and said he wished he had some room, so we knew we were around the mark.” And where to from here? “There’s a heap of races in the next two to three weeks for him, some sprint series qualifiers,” Pegus said.

“The 1100-metre benchmark 64 at Ballarat in a few weeks looks the best option.”

That race will be on Tuesday, March 8, and we can only dream of getting double-figure odds about him again. “I couldn’t believe the price,” Pegus quipped. Nor could we!