Hometown track just the tonic for Longneck Larry
AFTER failing to finish inside the front half of the field for the opening three runs of its career, Longneck Larry has broken through for its maiden win at race number four.
The horse was returning to the track after a month layoff following an unlucky run at Sandown, and the horse’s trainer Catherine Martindale said the team was “stoked” the gelding broke his duck at her home track of Moe.
“It was a great win,” Martindale told HorseBetting.com.au.
“It’s been a while between drinks but we are super happy with the performance.”
After getting a sensational cart into the race, the three-year-old son of Captain Gerrard hit the front in the closing stages to beat out Miss Hugo A Gogo ($1.60 Crownbet.com.au) and return $9.60 at WilliamHill.com.au.
Stephanie Thornton lifts Longneck Larry to win the third at Moe.
Results: https://t.co/m7KpnmMvrw pic.twitter.com/9JMEeb7RRB
— Racing.com (@Racing) July 15, 2017
Short priced favourite Alsimon rounded out the placings and returned $1.50 at Bet365.com.au, but failed to make an impression on the leading duo.
The win was all about Longneck Larry however, which recorded its first ever finish inside the first six in a competitive race, but the three-year-old’s trainer said her elect had plenty of excuses for not performing better in previous attempts.
“He’s showed us a fair bit all the way along he’s just immature and young,” Martindale said.
“He ran a cracking race second up at Sale, missed the kick in his first race and finished it off really well and at Sandown he just got in the worst part of the ground got a bit of a knock and threw the towel in a little bit.
“Having said all that we were pretty confident today and he did the job well.”
Martindale runs her stable out of Moe where Longneck Larry resides, and she believes the horse benefited greatly from running around in familiar surroundings on Saturday.
“The home track was definitely an advantage,” the trainer explained.
“He gallops around at Moe every week and he always works really impressively on it, so when he got down there today he knew he was at home.
“He knows where the line is at Moe, and as I said, he’s a pretty immature and dumb sort of type so he hasn’t quite worked out where the line is anywhere else but he knows where it is at Moe.”