Mexborough Boy was a different horse with the addition of blinkers on Sunday.
A precocious son of Greta West Stud stallion Keep The Faith, he streeted a 1200 metre sprint field by more than five lengths at Kranji.
“His last run was very disappointing considering he had mixed it with some good two-year-olds,” jockey Danny Beasley said. “He ran third to War Affair in last year’s Golden Horseshoe Final so I thought we should try blinkers.”
Mexborough Boy (3g Keep The Faith – Manzie De Lago by Encosta de Lago) didn’t give his backers any anxious moments in the headgear – he coasted at the girth of leader Zac Heaven and then broke away from the pack at the top of the straight. The margin kept widening until Beasley eased him down approaching the line.
The winner was a $31,000 buy from Basinghall Farm at the 2012 Inglis Melbourne Autumn yearling sale. He was initially raced by Graham Storey but is now owned and trained by Theo Kieser.
“I told Theo he was thinking too much,” Beasley added. “The blinkers have really sharpened him up and turned his form around. He can go on and win a better class race after that.”
On Saturday, Keep The Faith mudlark Give Me Faith scored a surprise first-up victory in the Adroit Insurance Brokers Hcp (1100m) at Bendigo.
Give Me Faith (5g Keep The Faith – Apple Express by Scenic) is raced by Valda Ballinger, Charlie Camera, Scott Cashill, Craig James, Tony Natale and Diane Rinaldi and he caught them napping at $34. A winner on rain-affected tracks at Ballarat and Tatura in June last year, he looks set for another productive winter campaign for trainers Terry and Karina O’Sullivan.
Keep The Faith has sired 52 winners of 73 races in Australia this season and he was unlucky not to notch another when Trust In A Gust was runner-up in the $250,000 VOBIS Gold Reef (1600m) last time out at Flemington.
He charged home from the back of a capacity field to get within a length of Worth A Ransom.
Trust In A Gust has been sent for a spell and trainer Darren Weir is confident there’s a nice race for him during the spring carnival.
MEXBOROUGH BOY