Platinum Pantheon was a long way from home when he stepped out at Ashburton on Sunday, but that didn’t stop the sharp three-year-old from dominating his maiden rivals in the McCrea Family 1200.
His trainer Lisa Latta had been in search of a better surface for Platinum Pantheon, who had performed with merit on heavy ground often found at the present time in the North Island. Meanwhile in the south, he had the opportunity to step out on a Good3 and looked the horse to beat against his older counterparts, starting a $2.70 favourite ahead of Aladdins Jem.
In the hands of Kylie Williams, the gelding was only fairly away from the gates, settling back and wide and wanting to go a lot quicker. His rider decided to do just that, pressing on at the 800m and circling the field, turning for home still with a hand full of horse.
When Williams asked him to go, Platinum Pantheon put the field away in a matter of strides, streaking clear by a margin to ease down and score by over five lengths from Aladdins Jem and Emerging Miss.
It hadn’t been a comfortable watch for Latta, who was on course at Waverley, but she couldn’t have been happier with the final result.
“It didn’t go as we’d planned, we hoped to jump and sit outside leader, but he was slow away and got caught wide but he was just too good for them,” she said.
“He trialled up so well at Awapuni a fortnight ago, which gave us the confidence to go down there while looking for those better tracks.”
Suited to the sprint distance, Latta is now looking ahead to New Zealand Cup Week, where he will run for lucrative stake money at Rating 65 grade.
“We’ll probably go to the 65 over 1200m on the first day at Riccarton, then go from there,” she said.
An Australian-bred son of Hanseatic, Platinum Pantheon was a $60,000 purchase out of breeder Rosemont Stud’s draft at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
