Bowie goes back-to-back in July with Warren Sinton Memorial win
FOUR-year-old gelding Bowie made it consecutive July wins in the $30,000 Warren Sinton Memorial R85 at Rotorua on Saturday.
The Baker/Forsman-trained gelding scored a gritty half-length win at Matamata earlier this month and repeated the dose with another determined effort on the rain-affected track.
The well-bred son of Iffraaj sat on the pace and had most of the field off the bit approaching the turn. New Zealand’s leading apprentice, Sam Weatherley, asked for fifth gear and it bolted away for an impressive win.
“The plan was to sit outside Saber and it worked out really well,” Weatherley said.
Weatherley stated that the inside part of the track is getting on the puggy side, so punters should expect to see runs coming out wide.
“The inside is getting pretty cut out, it’s quite puggy,” he said.
Co-trainer Andrew Forsman was happy to see a settled horse in the prelims as Bowie ($4.60 at Ladbrokes.com.au) is known to get itself worked up, despite having 24 career starts behind it.
“Normally he gets himself worked up. He has a think and a sweat, so we kept him fresh and he seems to enjoy what he’s doing,” Forsman said.
“It was a good positive ride. He did a fair bit of work to get across and they ran along at a good clip, but obviously being on pace in that race was an advantage.”
Bowie had placed in its only run at Rotorua, which gave Forsman plenty of confidence heading into the co-feature of the day.
“He has raced well here before and that gives you a lot of confidence.”
The win gave the Baker/Forsman team a winning double for the day after Crafty Jess also scored consecutive July wins.
It also kicked off the first of consecutive Rotorua wins for Sam Weatherley who would later take out the Taumarunui Cup aboard Gentil Tonton.