A STIRRING track gallop at Morphettville on Saturday by one-time Blue Diamond Stakes favourite Jimando has convinced trainer Tony McEvoy that the colt can defeat the favourite Samaready in Saturday's $1 million race, reports The Age. It says: Jimando surrendered favouritism for the group 1 race to Samaready when he finished only third in his first run for the campaign at Caulfield earlier this month, but McEvoy said yesterday that his rivals will see a different colt this weekend when he wears w
A STIRRING track gallop at Morphettville on Saturday by one-time Blue Diamond Stakes favourite Jimando has convinced trainer Tony McEvoy that the colt can defeat the favourite Samaready in Saturday's $1 million race, reports The Age.
It says: Jimando surrendered favouritism for the group 1 race to Samaready when he finished only third in his first run for the campaign at Caulfield earlier this month, but McEvoy said yesterday that his rivals will see a different colt this weekend when he wears winkers for the first time.
''There were two things I really wanted to see out of the gallop and that was that he reacted well to the winkers, and that was certainly the case, and that he really quickened when asked and he certainly did that,'' McEvoy said. ''He came through it all in great shape.''
The trainer said that the stable employed the wrong tactics first-up at Caulfield 15 days ago when riding the colt for speed. ''It wasn't Blake's [Shinn] fault because that was the plan we devised, but we learnt that he is a much better horse when ridden off the pace and that's how he'll be ridden on Saturday.
''Whether he draws inside or out, he'll go back and be allowed to use that ability to quicken into the race.''