Front Page winning the Listed VRC AR Creswick Stakes at Flemington where he will return next Saturday week after winning in Wagga. Photo: AAP.
Corowa’s Front Page convincingly won the coveted $200,000 Iron Jack 2022 Wagga Town Plate last Thursday by four and half-lengths and will head to Flemington Saturday week.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
With recent Albury Gold Cup winning jockey Tyler Schiller on board, and carrying 54.5kg, the five-year-old chestnut gelding blitzed the 16-field, finishing well ahead of Mnementh and second favourite Another One.
The first to jump, Front Page took a trail behind Calescent. Under a stranglehold entering the home straight, Front Page put the race to bed in a matter of strides.
Murrumbidgee Turf Club received 40 high-class entries for the special event.
And the big race was so special for trainer, Corowa’s Geoff Duryea, with Front Page having his first race in seven months, since last September.
“The race panned out really well for us,” the elated trainer told The Free Press.
“We didn’t want to lead. We had a good sit on a horse.
“After 400 metres I said to my wife Maureen he’s getting a good run behind this horse; the others seemed too far back. Front Page came out and he blitzed them.”
The son of Magnus appeared a big chance in last October’s $1.2million The Kosciuszko but suffered a tendon injury to his near-hind leg days before the race.
Twelve months earlier, he was scratched by vets on race-day when injuring himself in the float on the morning of the race.
Duryea said Front Page’s owners spent a lot of money and a lot of time and they were rewarded for their patience.
“Today, he proved he is almost back to his best. It’s been a long, drawn-out saga to get him where we are,” Duryea told Sky Racing after the race.
“He has had so many little setbacks; it’s been hard to believe.”
As the winner of the Listed VRC AR Creswick Stakes, he now has a record of five wins and three seconds with earnings of $289,425.
Trained by Corowa’s Geoff Duryea, Front Page strides away to win by four and half-lengths at Wagga last Thursday.
Front Page burst onto the scene as a three-year-old, winning the listed Creswick Stakes at Flemington in dominant fashion, prompting connections to knock back more than a million dollars for the horse
Front Page’s next race will be the 1200m up the straight back at Flemington. His one start in this race produced a first past the post.
“He’s had a rough trot but he’s come out and showed what he can do when he’s right,” Duryea said. “Hopefully we’ll get a few more wins out of him.”
11°C