MAGNUM Oasis had only just broken its maiden status when owner Royce Keirl started contemplating a start in the Warrnambool Classic.
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The 20-month-old black dog was an easy victor in heat three of the VBIS maiden series at Wannon Park on the first night of the Seaside Carnival last night.
He clocked 25.89 seconds for the 450-metre trip on debut, despite missing the start and almost losing his footing in the first 100 metres.
Ultra Bright ran second, 3¾ lengths behind, while Dynamo’s Dove was third, less than a length further back.
Keirl said he had nominated Magnum Oasis for the $75,000-to-win Warrnambool Classic in April, confident a decent showing was not out of the question.
He said the Where’s Pedro-Weir Park dog had shown potential when initially trained by him before heading to Peter Dapiran at Northwood, near Seymour.
“His three-quarter brother holds the track record at Cranbourne over the short,” Keirl said.
“He’s 21 months of age nearly. He’s got a big future ahead of him.
“He was running extremely good times back at home. Peter has had him for the last six weeks. I’ve done all the pre-training up until then.
“We picked this race out. We’ve got the Warrnambool Classic coming up in April, which I’ve paid up for, and that’s why we’re here.”
Keirl, a co-owner with his partner Jane Anderson, said he was impressed with the way Magnum Oasis surged to the lead after such a poor start.
“He missed the start, got nearly put on his nose 60 or 70 metres out of the box. He’s picked himself up and gone around them,” he said.
“They haven’t ran a real flash time. He can run a lot quicker than that, but he showed what we know he’s got. It’s pretty exciting.
“I reared him with my partner and at the end of the day it’s good to get a win. It’s something I do as my passion and it’s nice to get a win in a good race like this.”
Magnum Oasis was one of 12 VBIS maiden series heat winners at Wannon Park last night.
Baumgartner, trained by Sam Bonaccurso, was the quickest of the first six heats, dashing home to win heat four in 25.67 seconds.
Other heat winners included the Angela Langton-trained My Words Only, which won heat one in 25.81 seconds.
Dynamic Punch, from the Robert Tartaglia kennel, won heat two by more than five lengths in 25.76 seconds.
The Kelly Bravo-trained Top Secret delivered as favourite in heat five, winning by almost three lengths in 25.82 seconds. Vito gave Bonaccurso a double by holding off Lektra Brave and He’s Bonza in a tight heat six, clocking 25.84 seconds.
Semi-finals of the series will be held on January 2, while the final is on January 9, the last night of the Seaside Carnival.
