Hawkes Racing youngster too good on debut
A businesslike performance has earned debutant Chivvy a convincing debut win in Wednesday's Race-Tech Handicap (1000m) at Betfair Park – Sandown Lakeside.
Chivvy had not trialled publicly before her debut in the $30,000 race but the daughter of Flying Spur (pictured) showed plenty of maturity to travel sweetly behind the speed for jockey Michael Rodd.
Rodd peeled Chivvy into clear running at the 500 metres but waited until the 250 metres to ask the two-year-old for her finishing effort. The Hawkes Racing-trained filly responded to Rodd's urgings to score a decisive win.
"She is a bomb-proof ride. She has been really well educated,” Rodd said. "She stood in the barriers; she pinged out and let me tuck in behind them.
"She had them covered coming down the dip. I had to sort of hold her together because I didn't want to get to the front too soon because it is a long way up the straight on a green two-year-old.”
Co-trainer Wayne Hawkes said Chivvy's relaxed manner showed all the hallmarks of a much older horse but he admitted to a slight concern with the heavy track at Sandown.
"She is a nice filly, she has done everything right,” Hawkes said. "She has just taken a little bit of time but she is just a professional.
"Out the back, you would have thought it was an eight-year-old gelding. She just stood there, she had one leg sort of sloped and relaxed.
"You don't know how they are actually going to go on these tracks. She had gone through it at Flemington on the grass tracks but it's a big difference from trackwork to raceday and race conditions.”
The consistent Joyeux tried hard in the straight before finishing second, a long neck ahead of another debutant, the Pat Hyland-trained Bonaria.
The market: Chivvy was a drifter on track, easing from $10 to $12, while Joyeux was the best-backed runner at Sandown. The filly opened at $3.80, eased to $4.40 before firming back into $4. Eramor eased from $4.20 to $5.50. Nothing else was backed on track. The on-course market closed at 122 percent.
Story: Brad Waters RaceNet
Photo: www.racepixvic.com.au