A HORSE thought to be better-suited over 10 furlongs and further, showed a good turn of foot to win the 950m Campbell’s Fuel Service Maiden Plate at Moree on Friday.
Lord Protector, now trained at Tamworth by Craig Martin after transferring from Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young’s Cranbourne stables, was first-up since finishing second over 1980m at Tatura in May.
Prior to that, the gelding finished third at Geelong over 2240m.
First-up at Moree on Friday, Lord Protector settled at the back of the small field for two-kilo claimer Shannen Llewellyn before making a sustained run down the middle of the track to win comfortably.
Lord Protector ($2.30) hit the line well to win by nearly a length from Joe Hodgson’s Specular ($2.05fav), with Nikki Pollock’s Unreliable Critic ($7.50) a half-head away third.
“He jumped a little tardier than I thought he would and wasn’t quite ready – there was little bit of interference in the barriers,” said Llewellyn, who also won on Jane Clement’s Extreme Merger later in the day.
“We sat very wide the trip so there’s quite a lot of merit in his run. He boxed on very, very well for a horse that was racing over 2200m down in Victoria.
“It was a bit of a shock to the system for all parties, but he boxed on and did a good job.
“We were thinking he’d be more of a stayer but Craig was kind enough to afford me the opportunity to gallop him before I rode him on race-day, and he did a nice, lovely piece of work coming into the race,” she said.
Shannen Llewellyn trots Lord Protector back to scale at Moree after winning the 950m Campbell’s Fuel Service Maiden Plate.
Martin echoed the apprentice’s thoughts.
“It was a very good win, especially considering he’s a horse looking for a mile or a mile-and-a-quarter,” Martin said.
“There was no trial and we went into the race nice and fresh and he did the job well.
“Shannen’s a good kid. She rode the horse trackwork on Tuesday for me, and I was more than happy to put her on today,” he said.
Llewellyn also piloted Extreme Merger to a smart win in the 1200m B&W Rural-Adama BM-66 Handicap for the in-form Jane Clement stable.
Well-back early, Extreme Merger ($2.30fav) sliced through to the field to score by more than half-a-length from Hill Billy Flyer and Mystery Lad.
Llewellyn’s Moree double comes on the back of two winners at Coonabarabran the previous Sunday – the Coonabarabran Cup on Clement’s recent Moree Cup winner Macleay and the 1200m Super Maiden on Poseidon’s Son for Tamworth trainer Cody Morgan.
Words and Image: Bill Poulos
