A decision to wait for races over 1200 metres with Field Of Play resulted in one of the more impressive performances by a juvenile in Melbourne this season at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
The son of Deep Field and the I Am Invincible mare Californiasurprise demolished his rivals in the $150,000 Drummond Golf Handicap, romping to a 3-1/4-length win under Blake Shinn.
The NZ$500,000 Karaka yearling was up for the early two-year-old trials, even winning a couple over 650m at Cranbourne in September, which co-trainer Trent Busuttin said was particularly pleasing given the early feedback around the colt.
“He was up and going early in the spring even though he’s not a real two-year-old type, he throws a bit to I Am Invincible, which is obviously a good thing, but he was ready to go and we gave him those first two-year-old trials and he got it a bit wrong, (got) a bit lost,” Busuttin said.
“But Luke Currie gave him a big wrap. He said, ‘wait for 1200, over 1000 metres it could go badly wrong’, so we tipped him out and gave him a break and here he is.”
Field Of Play relished an aggressive ride from Shinn to surge from just off the speed and take control of the race before the home turn.
The heavily-supported $2.70 betting companies favourite defeated Phillip Stokes-trained first-starter Tom ($16), who finished a length clear of the Ciaron Maher-trained Jenni Gone Bonkers ($7).
Attention immediately swung to 2025 goals and while Busuttin, who trains in partnership with Natalie Young, identified the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes as a probable main two-year-old target, Shinn suggested his biggest wins could come as a three-year-old.
“I think he’s probably more of a Caulfield Guineas-style of horse, a mile type, but what he did today over 1200 was very, very impressive,” Shinn said.
“I was pleasantly surprised how well he rounded the leader (Neverenoughlego) up, who appeared to be the hardest to beat, and he treated his rivals with contempt. It was a dominant display.”
