3 minute read

Argentinian-bred Martincho Cat bounced back from his unlucky last-start run to score a gutsy win in the $75,000 Open Benchmark 74 race over 1600m on Polytrack on Sunday.

The Easing Along five-year-old was revving up nicely at the 250m in a Class 3 race on March 30 when he took a bad check which snuffed out his winning chances there and then.

Jockey Barend Vorster had a less interrupted run on the $27 pop this time around, but he still had to use all of his experience in the saddle to get the wayward gelding home.

“He was going both ways. At first he was hanging in as he wanted to get in behind runners,” said Vorster.

“That's why I pulled the whip to my left hand. Then he changed legs at the top of the straight and wanted to hang out.

“He's always been a handful but the trick is to keep him sharp and get on top of him.

“He was very unlucky at his last start when he got chopped off at a crucial stage in the race. That cost him the race.

“He's a horse we have to keep together as he had knee surgery before. But he's definitely got plenty of scope and hopefully there'll be a few more wins in him here.”

Martincho Cat was sidelined for almost a year after he fractured his knee last year. He made a sensational return when he came from behind to score by a head first-up in a 1200m race on March 4.

“It's good to see him winning again. He was very unlucky at his last start as I think he could have won that race,” said trainer Patrick Shaw of the Tmen Stable-owned gelding.

“He's come through well since his knee fracture. He had to go for surgery and thanks to the good work from the vets at the Club, he's come back good.”

Martincho Cat showed reasonable early speed to settle in the first tier of the field, but was at one stage trapped three wide coming off the backstraight. Favourite Jet Stream (Saimee Jumaat) tracked him up throughout, and chased him down with plenty of resolve at the 250m, but Martincho Cat never showed any signs of letting up to hit the winning post half-a-length clear of a gallant Jet Stream.

Smart General (Mark Ewe) who shared the lead with Maraeti (John Powell) for most of the way did well to hold on for third spot another 1 ½ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 40.12secs.