With a last-start Group Three placing in Adelaide under his belt, accomplished Kiwi-bred gelding Pudding ventured to Victoria on Saturday and landed a deserved victory in the A$150,000 MRC Life Member David Sims 90th Birthday (1800m) at Sandown.
Saturday’s Benchmark 100 handicap was a step up in distance and down in class for Pudding, who ran second behind Arran Bay in a photo finish to the Gr.3 Cummings Stakes (1600m) at Morphettville on May 9.
The Richard and Chantelle Jolly-trained son of Tavistock was given plenty of respect for Saturday’s assignment as a $5.50 second favourite, and he scored a strong win in the hands of jockey Craig Williams.
Pudding broke well from gate seven and was the early leader before handing up to Bankers Choice and slotting in just behind him.
Bankers Choice upped the ante coming down the side of the track and moved three and four lengths clear, and he was still full of running as he rounded the home turn with a big lead.
But Williams drove Pudding down the middle of the track and he slowly but surely reeled in Bankers Choice, passing him in the final few strides and edging him out in a tight finish.
Williams revealed after the race that apprentice jockey Jackson Radley’s tactics on Bankers Choice forced him into a change of plans.
“I’d talked to Richard and Chantelle before the race and we had a plan to go forward, but Jackson Radley used really good brains, used his horse’s fitness to his advantage and really made me work for it,” he said.
“We were flexible, and it’s good when you’re riding for a stable like the Jollys and they give you that flexibility. And we were only able to do it and get the win thanks to Pudding’s competitiveness and will to win.
“He’s now had two runs over 1800m at Sandown Hillside for two wins, so it’s good.”
Pudding is the second foal of Zabeel mare Christmas Day, a three-quarter sister to dual Australian Group One winner Reset and is closely related to former Australian champion two-year-old Assertive Lad and dual Group One winner Assertive Lass.
Purchased by the Jollys for $65,000 out of the Hallmark Stud draft during the Book 1 Sale at Karaka 2020, Pudding is raced by a large group headed by Seymour Bloodstock's Mark Pilkington and Darren Thomas.
From 49 starts, the seven-year-old Pudding has recorded 11 wins, six seconds and six thirds and has banked A$668,695 in stakes.
A half-brother to Pudding will go through the Karaka sale ring during the NZB National Weanling Sale on June 25. The colt by Per Incanto will be offered by Seaton Park as Lot 88. – NZ Racing Desk.
