Peter Rubery (Race Images)
A decision to bypass a run at Tauranga during the week paid dividends for Cambridge trainer Shane Crawford when lightly raced four-year-old Swiss Military took out the opening event at New Plymouth on Saturday.
Crawford had openly said he would forego the Tauranga race in favour of the better prizemoney on offer at New Plymouth, a statement that punters interpreted as a positive sign for the Swiss Ace gelding as they installed him a warm favourite for the rating 65 1200 metre contest.
Despite carrying a hefty 59.5kilogram impost, along with the weight of punter expectations, Swiss Military never looked like buckling as he strode to the front halfway down the home straight to win as he liked by a dominant three-quarters of a length margin.
Crawford was full of praise for rider Troy Harris who had extricated the horse from a tricky position during the middle stages of the race.
“We certainly had the right man on top,” he said.
“He was nice and patient and didn’t panic on him.”
Crawford also believed the horse had shown the benefit of a brief break he had given him following a tough effort to finish third at Waipa back in June.
“He strengthened up and I was really happy with him going into the race,” he noted.
“He definitely needed the break when he had it.
“We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves with him and just take it race by race. He should make it to the next grade easily enough but I’m not looking forward any further than that at this stage.”
The victory was the second for Swiss Military in just six career starts to date after scoring on debut at Rotorua back in March. – NZ Racing Desk