He Ekscels over more distance to break maiden status at Caulfield
THREE-year-old gelding He Ekscels came into Saturday’s Ern Jensen Funerals 3YO with four starts for four placings, but leaves Caulfield a maiden no longer.
The son of Ekraar relished the rise in distance after running third at Sale last start and with an ideal sit just in behind a muddling pace, jockey Dwayne Dunn was able to find an early gap and sprint away for an easy win.
Dunn was happy with its turn-of-foot and believes the addition of the blinkers was the determining factor.
“Blinkers on today – he just took the bridle,” Dunn said. “They ran a fair gallop early and credit to finish off like that.
“He was always looking for this journey and adding the blinkers made all the difference.”
Winning trainer Richard Laming agreed with Dunn, stating that the change in gear helped the three-year-old keep its mind on the job.
“He’s always shown nice ability. He worked good Tuesday with them (blinkers), probably should have put them on last start, but they worked today.”
The pace was strong to begin the race with numerous horses trying to find the speed, but pace setters Fomo and Judelly quickly put the brakes on which left many horses fighting their riders in behind.
Laming didn’t think the pace would suit, but He Ekscels ($8.70 at CrownBet) showed a good sprint and took the gap like a promising type.
“I didn’t like it (tempo) mid-race, I thought they were going to sprint home which I didn’t think would suit, but the blinkers kicked in and he showed good fight and won nice,” Laming said.
“He’s a nice horse, going to make a nice stayer. He’s still immature, he’s got a lot of maturing to do, but he’s got a bright future.”
Laming hasn’t picked out a definite path out for He Ekscels, but a trip to Brisbane this winter could be on the cards.
“We’ll see how he pulls up,” Laming said. “He’s had a bit of racing, still immature, but if he pulls up OK we might go to Brisbane.”
Red Right Hand was steaming home from the back to return $3.60 to place and Soju Warrior battled on well for third after sitting close to the speed.