Talented jumper Beer Garden left the opposition flat in the $20,000 restricted hurdle at Warrnambool yesterday when he scored a 12-length victory over Mateo and Singersongwiter.
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Trainer Dan O’Sullivan said he had contemplated not running Beer Garden in the 3225-metre race, instead giving him a jumps school at Ballarat on Tuesday before he runs in the $100,000 Yalumba Hurdle (3600m) on Easter Monday at the big two-day Oakbank carnival.“It was in the back of our mind whether it was the right thing to do or not, but he’s come here and had a pretty comfortable day out,” O’Sullivan said.
“It was either come here and race for money or stay home and give him a good school or something during the week, so this has worked out pretty well.
“He’s a great jumper, he’s in really good form and I’m looking forward to Oakbank next week.”
O’Sullivan said his decision to run Beer Garden in the early jumps races had been vindicated with two jumps wins from as many starts this season.
“He’s never been at home on wet tracks. I just thought it was best to have him ready for the early jumps races as the tracks are normally good,” he said.
“We’ll take him over to Oakbank for the Yalumba and bring him back to Warrnambool for May.
“We might look at the Galleywood Hurdle or the Brierly Steeplechase with him but first we’ll go to Oakbank.”
Beer Garden gave Irish-born jumps jockey Patrick Flood the second leg of a winning double. He won the opening race on the Leon and Troy Corstens-trained Set You Free.
Flood said there was more improvement in Beer Garden.
“I think he’s going to improve a little bit off it again,” Flood said.
“I hope there’s a bit of speed on at Oakbank because he’s getting that little bit older now and he pulls up in front, so the longer we can leave it (having to make our run) the better.”
Favourite punters were left with worthless betting tickets following the opening race, a maiden hurdle, after the Gai Waterhouse-trained Sir Bigglesworth, ridden by star jumps jockey Steven Pateman, was pulled up in the race won by Set You Free.
Pateman said the five-year-old injured his off-side rear hock.
Outsider Undergroundfighter scored his first victory from 16 starts when he defeated Valediction and Regina Coeli in the restricted steeplechase.
Cranbourne trainer Tony Rosolini said he may contemplate bringing Undergroundfighter back to Warrnambool for the Brierly Steeplechase on the opening day of the May Racing Carnival.
