Jockey Jake Noonan has made the most of his opportunity to stick with the Mick Price-trained colt Masculino, guiding the three-year-old to a fighting win at Moonee Valley.
Noonan decided to kick up from barrier one to lead on Masculino in Saturday's Sweeney We Know West Handicap (1509m) and it proved a winning move in the seven-horse field.
Masculino ($4.80) had some mid-race pressure applied by Sheer Madness on his outside but kicked clear approaching the home turn.
He held Eshtiraak ($5) at bay by a short neck with another 2-3/4 lengths to Sunquest ($5) third.
The win was Masculino's first in town and third from four starts, with Noonan aboard each time.
"He's a big colt with a big stride and I just thought in a small field from barrier one, getting in behind them was going to be detrimental to him," Noonan said.
"I thought if I could find a real rhythm on him in front, with the Mick Price fitness under his belt he'd be hard to run down."
Noonan said it was worth the effort of making 54.5kg to ride Masculino, keen the make the most of those sorts of opportunities.
"To be honest, I probably had one or two horses going into the carnival that I was looking forward to and I wasn't guaranteed the rides on them," Noonan said.
"One of them is Land Of Plenty and the other horse is this colt."
Price is considering the Group II Bill Stutt Stakes (1600m) later this month at Moonee Valley for Masculino's next start.
- By Mathew Toogood (AAP)
