Gordon Richards is likely to stay in Sydney with South Australian sprint star Gytrash following his brave third placing in last weekend’s $15 million Everest.
The lure of a massive bonus means Gytrash is likely to tackle the Yes Yes Yes Stakes at Rosehill on October 31 rather than return south for the VRC Sprint Classic
The Yes Yes Yes Stakes is a $1 million race, but also carriers a $750,000 bonus if the winner comes from The Everest.
“I think he’ll run in that race in a couple of weeks,” Richards said.
“It’s over the 1300m, but I don’t really think that will be a problem for him and the bonus makes it a very attractive option.”
Richards said it was an amazing experience for not only himself as a trainer but for connections of Gytrash.
“It was one thing to first get a slot and have the horse in The Everest but the fact a lot of the owners were able to get here to Sydney and be part of it made it all the more special,” Richards said.
“He’s ran super. It was always going to be tough to come from where he did, but he just doesn’t run a bad race and finished off as well of we could have asked.”
At Morphettville, smart three-year-old Extra Time picked the perfect race to return to winning form, claiming the $100,000 Rebel Raider Series Final (1200m) for three-year-olds.
The Leon Macdonald and Andrew Gluyas-trained colt was on the quick back-up after carrying 62.5kg a week earlier. He thrived on the back of perfect ride, with Jason Holder stalking the speed before finishing over the top of rivals and holding off a fast-finishing Celestine.
“I thought the training performance was great,” Holder said post-race.
“Today was his best win.”
It was the second leg of a riding double for Holder, who also produced a brilliant front-running ride in the staying event aboard Darlamax, making it three SA wins on the bounce for the Andrew Homann-trained Victorian runner.
Holder said it was a pre-race plan to be more positive early in a race that appeared to lack a designated leader.
“We couldn’t find a leader in the race, we thought they were going to go slow,” Holder said.
“The horse was probably arrogant the last bit; he wasn’t entitled to finish off like he did.”
Holder shared riding honours with Barend Vorster, who won the opening two races with Fox Hall and Star Of Uma for bosses Tony and Calvin McEvoy. The third winner for the state’s leading stable came with The Difference, who showed plenty of speed to lead and was never in danger when scoring a 2.7-length win with Jessica Eaton in the saddle.
HORSES TO FOLLOW
THE HAITIAN POET (Race 2)
Good effort after settling back and can measure up in a similar race.
LA VITA (Race 7)
Gritty effort after doing some work behind Exalted Maxine.
PRETTY GLASS (Race 9)
Did the work on speed and was squeezed up late. Worth following.
IMAGE: Jason Holder shows his delight as Extra Time strides to an impressive victory in the $100,000 Rebel Raider Series final at Morphettville on Saturday.
