A brilliant ride from Christian Reith paves the way for Southern Lad claim his first stakes win
A 10 out of 10 ride from Christian Reith gave Southern Lad his first win in more than 500 days in the Listed Ramornie Handicap (1200m) at Grafton on Thursday.
Reith settled the John O’Shea-trained six-year-old in a midfield spot behind the speed which was quick enough.
He ensured Southern Lad settled in the run as others did the hard yards and he was presented at the right time to let down and beat favourite Phobetor by half a length.
O’Shea’s confidence grew as the race went on as Southern Lad looked the winner 100m after he let down at the top of the straight.
“He needs that kind of ride and it was perfect,” O’Shea said.
“The Mark Newnham horse (Blazing Miss) wasn’t taking him anywhere so it was really good to get a gun run like that.
“We were keen to stay one-off so we weren’t dictated to and when he got a bit of clear air he was going to be hard to hold out because his work on Saturday was first class.”
Christian Reith produced a perfect ride on Southern Lad to claim the Ramornie Handicap. Photo: AAP ImageSource:AAP
While Southern Lad looked to be overpowering Phobetor inside the last furlong, the favourite wasn’t giving up and considering the lack of wins of late his supporters would’ve had a nervous moment or two.
O’Shea was thinking about the first 800m of the race at that point.
“With that other horse being three-deep I was hoping it would tell late and it did,” he said.
“Southern Lad deserved that win. He’d had a few Stakes placings and has run just behind horses like Masked Crusader and Classique Legend.”
O’Shea will be looking to take out the Grafton carnival feature race double on Thursday with Berbidek in the Grafton Cup.
Fender was impressive to finish third and he’s no doubt on target for the Kosciuszko in October for Brett Cavanough.
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Originally published asDrought ends as Southern Lad wins Ramornie
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