John Morell
Trish Dunell
While he has a massive task in front of him to match the deeds of his half brother Ryan Mark, Te Rapa maiden winner Ryan Jim can boast an early victory over his older sibling.
The John Morell trained three-year-old opened his account on the weekend with a winning debut, something that Gr. 1 Railway Stakes winner Ryan Mark couldn't achieve when he kicked off his career at the same age. While Ryan Mark went on to win his next six starts and post his first Group One success this year, Morell is simply happy to savour another win from the last foal of his star broodmare Annalee who passed away in 2014.
"It's been a super family and to have another winner is a very satisfying result," he said.
"This guy is a lot like his dam in that the grey colouring is a little more prominent although they all go grey as they get older.
"We've been patient with him as he has taken a little time to figure it all out but when we saw the field for Saturday we decided to run rather than take him back to the trials."
Unplaced at his first trial back in December the Align gelding improved to run second in his next outing at Cambridge in February before stepping out at Te Rapa to register an impressive performance in victory.
"Michael Coleman rode him at the trials and taught him plenty although I was a little worried about how he would take to raceday as he's always gawking around and messing about in his work," noted Morell.
"I was pleasantly surprised to see him perform so professionally and when Craig (Grylls) came back in he was very happy and said he did it fairly easily.
"He settled nicely and when he asked him to go there was an instant response. He will learn a lot more from that run so I'm hopeful he can go on with it in the future."
Morell will let the dust settle before examining any future options for his charge although he did express doubts on the gelding's ability to handle a rain affected surface which could see him head to the spelling paddock should the tracks worsen over the next few weeks. – NZ Racing Desk
The John Morell trained three-year-old opened his account on the weekend with a winning debut, something that Gr. 1 Railway Stakes winner Ryan Mark couldn't achieve when he kicked off his career at the same age. While Ryan Mark went on to win his next six starts and post his first Group One success this year, Morell is simply happy to savour another win from the last foal of his star broodmare Annalee who passed away in 2014.
"It's been a super family and to have another winner is a very satisfying result," he said.
"This guy is a lot like his dam in that the grey colouring is a little more prominent although they all go grey as they get older.
"We've been patient with him as he has taken a little time to figure it all out but when we saw the field for Saturday we decided to run rather than take him back to the trials."
Unplaced at his first trial back in December the Align gelding improved to run second in his next outing at Cambridge in February before stepping out at Te Rapa to register an impressive performance in victory.
"Michael Coleman rode him at the trials and taught him plenty although I was a little worried about how he would take to raceday as he's always gawking around and messing about in his work," noted Morell.
"I was pleasantly surprised to see him perform so professionally and when Craig (Grylls) came back in he was very happy and said he did it fairly easily.
"He settled nicely and when he asked him to go there was an instant response. He will learn a lot more from that run so I'm hopeful he can go on with it in the future."
Morell will let the dust settle before examining any future options for his charge although he did express doubts on the gelding's ability to handle a rain affected surface which could see him head to the spelling paddock should the tracks worsen over the next few weeks. – NZ Racing Desk