A barnstorming finish, enabled by a 10/10 ride from Micheal Hellyer, saw Whiskey and Beer finally break his well-deserved maiden in the Ascent Building Solutions Maiden Plate at the Sunshine Coast last night.
It has been a frustratiing period for all Sunshine Coast trainers with the incredible run of wet weather restricting access to all important grass trackwork, and whilst it was great we could have five horses race at the meeting, it was felt that they all may have been underdone. This son of No Nay Never seemed to relish being fresh and getting his toes into the wet surface, however, and was able to win at 1200m which is expected to be short of his preferred distance range.
He showed little speed from barrier 10 and looked to be in trouble with a wall of horses in front of him at the 300m, but Micheal angled him over heels and he grew wings to win comfortably with his ears pricked on the line.
Congratulations to a big group of owners spread all around the country, and to John, Sheila and team who presented the gelding in winning form despite the challenges out of their control.