A very impressive effort by Shajaea yesterday, in breaking his maiden at his 5th start, in the LEVEL FIELD LAWYERS AND CONSULTANTS PTY LTD Maiden Handicap over 1000 metres at the Sunshine Coast.
Jumping well from barrier 9 of 11 runners, Jaden Lloyd was able to come across and slot at the girth of the leader, No Better Affaire, a length or two in front of the heavily supported favourite, Bolt Action. Travelling within himself, Shajaea seemed to control the race from a long way out, and at the top of the straight he quickly sided up and headed the leader.
For a couple of strides No Better Affaire looked to kick back, as we awaited Bolt Action to charge from behind, but under vigorous riding from Jaden the Shalaa 3yo gelding lengthened strongly to win by 1.5 lengths, in the good time of 57.79s, and 34.13s for the last 600m.
Typical of Esprit Racing runners, he was presented in magnificent order in the mounting yard. Heading into the race we knew that Shajaea had been recovering from a hoof abscess and had missed work, so the concern was that he may have been slightly underdone. Jaden mentioned in his post race interview that the horse was getting tired late, so this augurs well for his next start with further fitness under his belt.
Trainers John and Sheila were delighted, especially the way that he settled when asked. That is such a good trait to have, conserving energy and travelling comfortably before being asked for the final effort. After an excellent debut run at Doomben last December, he has had to contend with an unsuitable bog track, a gelding procedure, a cold, a wide barrier, and an abscess…so hopefully these issues are all behind him and he will start to show the athleticism and ability he is well known for in the stable.
Congratulations to all concerned!
Photography courtesy of Tenley Snow