Trainer Matt Smith is adopting a patient approach with his thoroughbreds and will not rush Aethelwulf, despite the promising stayer’s easy win at Canterbury.
Having his fifth start and first in city grade, Aethelwulf ($1.26 fav) cruised to a five-length victory over Forbidden Riff ($14) in Wednesday’s Asahi Super Dry Handicap (1900m), earning an immediate promotion to Saturday class.
Smith had concerns before the race that the tight Canterbury circuit might not suit the four-year-old, but these fears proved unfounded as his class prevailed.
“He’s a big baby but he’s got a motor. He handled (Canterbury) well,” Smith said. “Once you get one-off (the fence), your worries are over. You just find a nice rhythm and find that gait where they’re comfortable. He’s going places, isn’t he?”
The trainer confirmed that Aethelwulf would be stepped up in distance and class, with a Saturday metropolitan race over 2000 metres the next target.
The colt was briefly considered a potential Derby contender after finishing second on debut at Goulburn in December, but his immaturity at the time ended that possibility.
“I liked him, and I was wondering if he’d get there, but after that race he fell apart a bit, so we just put him away,” Smith stated. “He only had one run, and he was just backward.”
Chris Waller also unveiled an exciting late-bloomer in Phantom Major, a four-year-old Snitzel colt, who charged home from the back to win the Schweppes Handicap (1200m) on just his second start.
In a sign of the esteem in which he is held, he remains entire, and Waller is looking to involve him in the early carnival races.
“The owners wouldn’t let me geld him because they think he’s got quite a bit of ability. So we’ll just try to keep building his value,” Waller said. “It’s the right time of the year to be joining in. He would be taking on some of the better horses with a run under his belt.”
Phantom Major ($5) defeated the Smith-trained Queen’s Gamble ($3.90) by 1-1/2 lengths, giving Waller and jockey James McDonald the first leg of an early double, with the Godolphin mare Glissando winning 35 minutes later.
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