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Just Call Me Ray lived up to expectations when scorin his maiden victory at Ruakaka on the weekend, becoming the first winner for his sire Sufficient.
Bred by his trainer Bruce Wallace, the gelding is owned by Wallace and his three sons along with father Ray. He is the first foal of handy mare Encantada who was also bred and raced by Wallace who retained a share in his sire when he went to the stallion barn at Highview Stud after a brief racing career that was halted by injury.
“It was a great result for us as he was kept by the Wallace family to try and help boost the profile of Sufficient so to be his first winner is something really special,” said stable representative Alan Peard.
“He has always shown plenty at home and won an 800 metre trial at Avondale in the quickest time of the day back in April.
“He had one start as a two-year-old for some education and then went a cracking race at Ruakaka behind Consensus so we thought if he handled the track on Saturday he would be very hard to beat.”
Deciding on a spring programme for Just Call Me Ray will be the next task for the Wallace stable with options on both sides of the Tasman to consider.
“He holds a nomination for the Spring Championship Stakes as well as the VRC Derby so that will be a real consideration when we decide where to from here,” said Peard.
“The three-year-old stakes race at Ruakaka in a fortnight is one option while there is also a nice race at Newcastle on the 17th of September so we will be taking a look at flights etc. to see if that fits better for him.
“There is also the Bonecrusher Stakes at Ellerslie towards the end of September if we keep him here for the time being so there is definitely plenty to choose from.”
Wallace wasn’t on hand to witness the victory as he was in Sydney with stable star Deane Martin who went a nice race in his Australian debut to finish in behind the placegetters over 1500 metres at Rosehill on Saturday.