RUBBLE burst from the ruins of a costly defeat to savor sweet success at Gunnedah.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Like a Phoenix rising, the Cody Morgan-trained gelding rebounded from the disappointment of a last start sixth when heavily backed by her connections to win at Tamworth, to surge to a strong win on Monday.
The four-year-old son of Fastnet Rock had a tough run chasing leader Malzoom (Gavin Groth) before joining him and then taking over.
Mel O'Gorman's Pomme La Belle had stalked both and finished strongly on the fence but finished a half length astern of Rubble with Malzoom a half neck away third in the Happy New Year Benchmark 58 Handicap (1300m).
Greg Ryan, who had won previously on Wickmo, had ridden Rubble at Tamworth when beaten over four lengths by Golden Avenger and said he felt a lot better sitting outside the leader over the longer 1300m.
Hence he had a stronger finish whereas at Tamworth he'd used up everything to be there.
READ ALSO:
It was the gelding's first win for Cody Morgan too and the Tamworth trainer was delighted in his improvement and rebound from a last start failure.
"He had 60kg and sat outside the leader, a good strong win," he said.
Fourth Protocol then made it back to back wins at Gunnedah when the Narrabri gelding won the $22,000 Frank Gallen Memorial Benchmark 58 Handicap (1000m).
The Neville McCarthy-trained son of Dane Shadow won his fourth race in 22 starts and his second from four attempts at Gunnedah.
He had won his latest start at Gunnedah as well when successful in a 1000m scamper on December 7.
Jake Pracey-Holmes rode the gelding in a race named in honour of the "larger than life" Frank Gallen.
The jockey thought he was a good chance of winning the memorial race and was proved right even though his mount had a tough run from a wide gate (14).
"I let him roll," Pcacey-Holmes told Sky Thoroughbred Central after the win.
"He's a horse who always wants the fence and he lugged in."
That lugging almost caused his downfall as he moved across the squeeze Mac's Reward between him and favourite Hey Dude.
Mac's Reward jockey Greg Ryan requested to look at the footage of the race but elected not to lodge an objection after he beat Mac's Reward by a length and a half.
