Battle Time
Trish Dunell
Well-performed colt Battle Time was a class above his rivals at Tauranga where he was untested to double his winning tally.
Luck had deserted him this preparation before he turned his fortunes around with a commanding performance to claim the Zest 3YO on Saturday.
Runner-up in the Gr.1 Diamond Stakes at two, Battle Time was also placed in this season's Gr.2 Hawke's Bay Guineas and the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas before he was spelled after undergoing surgery to remove bone chips.
He returned in April to shed his tag as the country's best maiden with a first-up success, but more recently he was luckless when runner-up at Ellerslie three runs back before he ran fifth at Te Rapa after getting too far back in the running.
"I was confident today, although a bit unsure of him in the ground," said Margaret Carter, who prepares the three-year-old with her husband Tim.
She needn't have worried as Battle Time travelled easily in third spot under Vinnie Colgan and they coasted home after taking charge 350 metres from home.
"I'm so proud of him and we'll probably put him away now and then come back for the spring," Carter said.
"He' going to go a lot further than 1400 metres – he's pretty versatile."
Battle Time led home a quinella for his sire Battle Paint with his four and a half-length defeat of the resuming Acrylic and pacemaker Stradivarius tired to finish third. – NZ Racing Desk.
Luck had deserted him this preparation before he turned his fortunes around with a commanding performance to claim the Zest 3YO on Saturday.
Runner-up in the Gr.1 Diamond Stakes at two, Battle Time was also placed in this season's Gr.2 Hawke's Bay Guineas and the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas before he was spelled after undergoing surgery to remove bone chips.
He returned in April to shed his tag as the country's best maiden with a first-up success, but more recently he was luckless when runner-up at Ellerslie three runs back before he ran fifth at Te Rapa after getting too far back in the running.
"I was confident today, although a bit unsure of him in the ground," said Margaret Carter, who prepares the three-year-old with her husband Tim.
She needn't have worried as Battle Time travelled easily in third spot under Vinnie Colgan and they coasted home after taking charge 350 metres from home.
"I'm so proud of him and we'll probably put him away now and then come back for the spring," Carter said.
"He' going to go a lot further than 1400 metres – he's pretty versatile."
Battle Time led home a quinella for his sire Battle Paint with his four and a half-length defeat of the resuming Acrylic and pacemaker Stradivarius tired to finish third. – NZ Racing Desk.