Marwooba's late entry pays dividends for Hawkes Racing
With a touch of humour, Dylan Gibbons acknowledged that jockey Tyler Schiller deserved a share of his riding remuneration after piloting the Hawkes Racing colt Marwooba to victory in the day's first race at Rosehill.
The two-year-old was backing up from a sixth-place finish over 1250m at Canterbury on Monday, with Schiller guiding him. However, Schiller's commitments in Queensland prevented him from continuing with Marwooba, leading to Gibbons taking the reins for Saturday's Kia Ora Bloodlines to Headlines Handicap (1400m).
"I probably have to send half of that fee to Tyler," Gibbons quipped.
"He told me the back-up wouldn't worry him, and he did tell me he held his breath last start and they put some winkers on, so fair play to him. But I'll take this one."
The Wootton Bassett colt, Marwooba, was acquired for $400,000 at the Magic Millions yearling sale, marking Hawkes Racing's second consecutive Sydney Saturday metropolitan two-year-old winner, following the success of Why So Hard at Randwick the week prior.
The juvenile was a late inclusion after the deadline for nominations was extended. Stable representative Steve Thompson indicated that they decided to gamble after the colt experienced a 'comfortable' run at Canterbury.
"His effort on Monday was like a training gallop. He came from a difficult draw and just motored home over the final two furlongs (200m) as if it were a track workout," Thompson stated.
"With the nominations extended, and given this horse's excellent constitution, we decided to nominate him and assess his recovery during the week, and he's performed admirably."
Marwooba ($7), expertly positioned by Gibbons on the back of the leaders, faced a brief obstruction in the home straight before navigating a gap to pursue the heavily favoured Friendly Fire, who had surged to the front along the inside rail.
However, Marwooba demonstrated superior finishing power over the previous winner, finishing 1-1/4 lengths ahead of Friendly Fire. Iminastate ($8.50) secured third place, an additional 2-1/2 lengths adrift.
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