A well deserved win today by Checkmate Lad over 2060m at Doomben!
After several strong finishing placed performances, and a seemingly disappointing run for 4th when he just didn’t handle the wet track, Checkmate was sent out the 3rd favourite, and relished the drier Doomben track with a very strong staying effort from the rear.
Patiently ridden by our star apprentice, Steph Lacy, he was able to be strong to the line despite the extremely wide run around the turn, and he toughed it out well to win quite convincingly.
The son of Strategic Maneuver is belying the sprinting genes on dad’s side with mum Acclaim’s more stout staying lines showing through. Acclaim, incidentally, was the mare that trainer Sheila Laxon was riding and as it bolted towards a fence, Sheila bailed out to miss it and was severely injured …whilst Acclaim jumped the fence…
We look forward to Checkmate working through the grades; he is still quite immature and will only continue to improve as he works out what this racing caper is all about.