Plagiarism broke his maiden status in spectacular fashion, leaving his competitors in his wake to win the Group 3 $250,000 Up And Coming Stakes (1300m) at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
Co-trainer Adrian Bott confirmed that the decision to geld Plagiarism after his two-year-old season was a significant factor in his improved performance.
“We have had him in all the biggest races so far, we haven’t run him in maidens, and that was his first win today,” Bott said. “Last preparation we chased the Golden Slipper dream but it just wasn’t happening for him. I feel having the horse gelded has helped him, definitely. He was impressive today.”
Guided by Regan Bayliss, Plagiarism ($8) led from start to finish, maintaining a clear advantage and ultimately winning by nearly a length from the fast-finishing Genesis Runner ($4.40). Hostwin King ($17) secured third place, another half-length behind.
The favoured runner, Savagram ($2.30), a stablemate of the winner, made late ground to finish fourth.
Bayliss informed Racing And Sports that he felt confident for a considerable portion of the race, as Plagiarism was travelling exceptionally well.
“He is a horse that can roll along at a nice speed and quicken off that which is a really good attribute to have,” Bayliss commented. “When he got there so easily and got into a great rhythm I thought it was going to take a good one to run him down. He was just too good. He keeps improving, this horse and that was a really good confidence-boosting win. He’s still only lightly raced and is on the way up.”
Bott, who trains in partnership with Gai Waterhouse, indicated that plans for races like the Tapp-Craig and Callander-Presnell would be revisited after this commanding win.
“We will look at the Golden Rose,” Bott stated. “There is probably a sweet spot getting out to 1400m for this horse. I thought he might have been a step below the top three-year-olds but he was very impressive today. He is a horse that has always shown natural speed and brilliance. We wanted to see him utilise that and he executed that perfectly. It was a great effort by him first-up with a big weight and he has obviously taken improvement from the run. We will see how he comes through this and look to where we aim up but everything is on the table at present.”
Bott also noted the quality of Savagram’s performance.
“I thought he was excellent,” Bott said. “It was his second career start and that was probably what showed today. When the speed increased from the 600m he just wanted to lay out slightly under pressure. But I thought he knuckled down really well and was excellent through the line. He is going to keep improving as he gets up over further and I thought it was a very good run for where he is at in his career.”
The filly Savvy Diamond, also from the Waterhouse-Bott stable, encountered trouble early and finished eighth.
It might be worth exploring online bookmakers for the best racing odds following this performance.