VEGAS RAIDER made a fairytale start to his racing career, storming home from the tail of the field to win the big-money $200,000 Inglis 2YO Challenge (1100m) in some style at Scone this afternoon.
In the prelude to the Listed Scone Cup, VEGAS RAIDER flew home from a seemingly impossible position to nail the leaders on the line and pick up a handsome cheque for $109,350, which marks an incredible return on the $38,000 we invested in the son of Invader just over 12 months ago at the Inglis HTBA Sale.
The barnstorming win was made all the more impressive by the fact that our boy jumped from the second widest gate, and the heavy track conditions made it very difficult to make up any ground on the leaders.
Jockey Jason Collett, who had already ridden two winners on the card, had no option but to settle towards the rear of the field from that wide draw, with VEGAS RAIDER trapped four wide and almost last coming round the turn.
But VEGAS RAIDER turned on the afterburners and peeled off some sizzling sectionals to round up his rivals and make the best possible start to his racing career. The win marked the second straight success in the race for trainer David Pfieffer, who took the prize with Artero 12 months ago.
The win gives us all the more reason to be excited about our next exciting 2YO by INVADER who we purchased from this year's recent Inglis Classic Sale, based on the promise that VEGAS RAIDER had shown us early in his career.
The win also capped off a superb day for our partners with KING KAPA making a notable return to form in the Class 1 Handicap (1100m) earlier in the day.
With the “wizard of the west” Willie Pike in the saddle for the first time, the King motored home but just failed to run down the leader. Despite narrowly missing out on a first win for trainer Joe Pride, there’s no doubt our Capitalist colt is back near his best and the runner-up cheque for $7,150 was a very solid way to kickstart the weekend for our partners.
Congratulations to everyone involved on a day to remember.