One of the most consistent horses in the stable is Big Pat’s Pontiac. Fresh from a last start win at Kyneton just before Christmas, Big Pat stepped up to the 2060m distance at Friday night’s Cranbourne meeting and was again very strong in the concluding stages to circle the field to score his third victory.
In doing so, Big Pat’s has earned his connections over $60,000 is prize money plus VOBIS bonuses. With the promise of more to come! A great reward for the ownership group consisting of the Beazley, Barrett and McCabe families.
Ben Allen is one of the riders who has been doing a lot of work for the stable in recent times, both on raceday and on the training track. He has been working hard for various stables, especially Friday mornings at Flemington riding jump outs. In these jump outs Ben and others are providing valuable feedback to Nigel about the young horses progressing through their careers, and building a great bond with our horses.
Ben, Beau Mertens and Craig Robertson have all ridden Big Pat’s Pontiac in recent times, and now Ben has scored a well deserved victory following Beau’s and Craig’s previous victories. All three have ridden Big Pat perfectly, with patience the key to this son of GIO PONTI.
On Friday night, Ben allowed Big Pat to settle at the rear of the field from an awkward gate. Aided by a good speed up front from a couple of horses that took each other on, Ben angled Big Pat out on the corner and accelerated as he departed the corner into the straight. So often we see horses ridden strongly into the corner and making a wide run whilst accelerating – a very difficult ask for most horses. So Nigel has been very keen to see Big Pat, in fact all runners, “ridden out of the corner” rather than into it. This strategy worked again for Big Pat.
