Cambridge gelding Witz End booked his plane ticket south to Christchurch later this week following victory in the Powerturf 1500 at Ellerslie on Tuesday.
The Savabeel gelding jumped well and was taken straight to the front by jockey Matt Cartwright and the pair didn’t relinquish their advantage, holding on for a half-length victory over the fast-finishing Skyman.
The four-year-old has swiftly made his way through the grades, having now won four of his eight career starts, and was runner-up in the Gr.2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m) last season, and trainer Tony Pike said he still has plenty of maturing to do.
“He still wants to do a hell of a lot wrong in his races,” Pike said. “He is just really new and green still off the bridle. He is lightly raced and came through to open handicap pretty quickly, so you would think he will continue to improve as he goes forward.”
A Group assignment now awaits Witz End, who is set to head to Riccarton Park next Wednesday to line-up in the Gr.3 TAB Mile (1600m), and Pike believes he will take plenty of improvement from Tuesday’s run.
“We will just get him home and give some thought about getting him on a plane on Sunday down to Riccarton,” Pike said.
“There was a little hiccup at Te Rapa (abandonment) and he might have needed today, it has been a long time between runs,” Pike said. “He is a big, strong, burly horse, so I think he will improve off today.
“He will get in nicely at the weights (for the TAB Mile) so we might have a roll of the dice if he pulls up well.”
Cartwright echoed Pike’s comments on Witz End’s greenness, but said he was impressed with the horse’s presence on Tuesday and is excited about what lies ahead for the gelding.
“He had good form, and he jumped clean and put himself there,” he said. “One thing that I really noticed today was that he was quite a different horse, he was a lot stronger and up and about. It’s probably the way he needs to be, on the fresher side, but he put them away, it was a good win.
“He is still a green product, but he has got ability, and I am sure he will be winning a Group race in time.
“He should take good improvement, but I am happy with the way he is going.”