An excellent ride and a strong staying effort helped 4yo Checkmate Lad achieve his second win at Doomben yesterday.
After striking bad luck getting a run at his previous race last week, jockey Ron Stewart was keen to get him into open air and swept from the rear to drive to victory right on the line in the Class 3 2240m race.
It was a very good effort backing up to race in a week, and also remembering that the colt was eligible to race in Class 1 races, and here he was impressively winning at Class 3.
Trainer John Symons mentioned in a Sky Racing interview that he will improve with maturity next campaign, and given he and Sheila’s ability to patiently develop and nurture their horses to maximise their racing life, we should be in for a lot of fun with Checkmate Lad.
