Off the back of two unbeaten trial performances, it was no surprise to see the John O’Shea and Tom Charlton trained Tyreek (Snitzel) start well in the money on debut before the 3yo gelding was simply too good for his rivals, winning the TAB Handicap (1200m) on Wednesday at Canterbury.
Off the back of some handy recent form, 4yo Deep Field mare Miss Jones started the race favourite and unfortunately was planted wide while Tyreek took a slight sideward step after jumping from the gates before settling on the rail with two behind him.
With Waller’s Writego (Zoustar) taking up the running comfortably from the stakes placed Cobra Club (Zoustar), Waller's other runner, the former James Cummings trained Burma Star (Exceed And Excel) was getting a nice run in third.
As the home turn approached, James McDonald aboard Burma Star came along the rail before popping off the leader’s heels to make his run, reeling in his stablemate to take the lead.
Just as Burma Star took the leader, Tyreek came of his back and after a battle over the last 150m or so, the Snitzel gelding got his head in front to score by a quarter of a length, with the unlucky Miss Jones holding on well for third after a wide passage to finishing a further half-length away.
Trainer John O’Shea was confidant that Tyreek’s athleticism was going to be an asset on debut.
“Good horses are usually defined by what they do at their first start. And albeit he had a lot of improvement, whatever he did today, he was still good enough to win, “stated O’Shea.
“It was very rewarding for his ownership group and Champion Thoroughbreds and our team at home.”
“Very unassuming little fellow as a yearling but had plenty of athleticism as you saw today.
“It's great. It's a lovely day. It's the start of spring, not too far away, and we've got ourselves a nice horse to play with.”
Gibbons felt that slightly awkward jump from the gates may have been a positive for Tyreek.
“He just stood a bit awkward in the gates, and you see it's not like he missed it, but he just took an awkward step and we were in all sorts, but I think it was a blessing in disguise because he's quite casual.”
“I think being out the back giving him more to chase was the reason why I was able to get the revs up and win.
“But look, he's a little ripper. He's like his name sake, he's fast. So he's done a good job.”
Purchased from the Yulong draft at the Magic Millions yearling sale for $160,000 by Champion Thoroughbreds, Tyreek is the first runner, and winner out of the Group 2 Hot Danish Stakes winning Pierro mare Reelem In Ruby.
From an interesting international black type family which includes USA Champion Turf Filly Possibly Perfect, Reelem In Ruby missed the following year to Tagaloa before foaling a filly by Alabama Express, with the mare due to foal this season to Champion Sire Zoustar.
Tyreek is the second winner so far this season for the four time Champion Sire Snitzel, with the former Arrowfield Stud stallion getting his third winner just two races later with 3yo filly Southern Heiress.
