He is named after one of the world’s greatest boxers and De La Hoya is landing some knockout blows of his own on the track.
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Bigger things lay in store for the Tamworth speedster following yet another fine performance on home soil.
De La Hoya ($2.45fav) oozed a touch of class as he downed another emerging customer Dan Roy in a better than average 1200m Class 3 Handicap.
Trainer Mark Mason, who also bred the son of Dubleo, is eyeing off a crack at the Country Championship heat at Scone later this month.
The gelding is named after the American-Mexican boxer Oscar De La Hoya, who won an Olympic gold medal in 1992 before a stellar professional career, winning 10 world titles in six different weight classes.
The way De La Hoya rounded up his rivals in the straight after travelling sweetly midfield was enough to impress winning jockey Robert Thompson.
“He was a big green bugger earlier, but he’s learning how to race now,” Thompson said.
“Maso has done a good job with him, he won it well today.
“Coming to the corner he was starting to tow me into the race and he was always going to prove hard to hold out.”
Thompson, who has ridden more than 4000 winners in the saddle, encouraged the stable to aim high with De La Hoya.
“The (Country) championships are coming up, so another one tugged into the fray today,” he said.
De La Hoya has now won four of his nine career starts under the guidance of the astute Mason and is illustrating genuine versatility.
He prevailed on a Soft 7 at Tamworth in his previous start late last month before revelling in good conditions on Monday.
Mason is confident that the seven furlongs of the Scone heat will not present an obstacle despite De La Hoya not yet striding out past 1200m in race conditions.
De La Hoya stopped the clock in a handy 1.09.46, which is more than a second outside of the track-record held by Runs Deep.
Dan Roy ($7.50) certainly lost no admirers even though he had to play the role of bridesmaid in his first run for a month.
Greg Bennett’s Sadhika ($18) rounded out the trifecta in an eye-catching run, while Exitoso and Kyrgios appear to have the hoof on the till for future races after solid performances.