Caulfield Heath witnessed an eye-catching debut on Wednesday when Melek, a gelding bred to excel over staying distances, produced a sharp performance in the Sportsbet Race Previews Plate (1600m).
Prepared by Ciaron Maher, the four-year-old stepped out for the first time and wasted no time showing his potential.
Strong late support saw him start at $4.20, and under the polished ride of Craig Williams, Melek chased down the heavily backed Wolfoffitzroystreet ($2.40), scoring by a length. Icaro ($5.50) filled the minor placing another 1-Âľ lengths adrift.
Melek’s pedigree is steeped in stamina: he is by St Jean, the sire of Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup champion Half Yours, while his dam Regina Coeli — a daughter of Pure Theatre — famously won the historic Grand Annual Steeplechase (5500m) twice.
Before becoming a jumping legend at Warrnambool, Regina Coeli did win twice on the flat over the same 1600m trip Melek conquered on debut.
Tragically, St Jean died not long after Half Yours’ Melbourne Cup triumph, the result of a paddock mishap.
Melek is raced by the Maher operation in conjunction with Halo Racing, with prominent owner Janice McKenna — formerly associated with Half Yours — also among the shareholders.
Stable representative Leigh Allen was encouraged by what Melek produced at his first raceday appearance.
“Janice is in the horse along with Ciaron who has a fair chunk in the horse and well done to the team at Ballarat who have done all the work with the horse,” Allen said.
“He’s four now, but what I can see of that win, he’s got a bright future.”
Williams agreed, although he noted the gelding was a handful immediately after he mounted.
“He was a bit startled and wanted to run away with me, which was a bit awkward,” Williams said.
“But then he fell into the model of stepping slow, and relaxing.
“I thought at the 500 (metres) when he started to reel in the favourite, he had that nice momentum, which was good, but then he got on the wrong leg turning, which is not unusual in their first start, and on this track, but then he kept lengthening and he was able to reel them in.
“It was a good win in the end.”
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