The $12 Sportsbet chance overcame the consistent Joe Pride-trained sprinter, which made life difficult for him and jockey Tom Sherry in a messy finish.
It followed a heavy track win at Warwick Farm carrying 61 kilograms when first up off a 17-week spell and one trial. The five-year-old now has seven wins and 15 placings from 36 starts.
“He’s not one of these million-dollar horses, he was just bred in a back paddock with the owners, and it’s just wonderful for them and that these stories can happen,” Litt said.
“He’ll go on with this, and I’m hoping there’s a couple of races coming up, maybe in listed grade, that he can be competitive in.”
It was part of a treble for Sherry, who earlier won on Annabel and Rob Archibald-trained Yoshinobu, which was first-up off a gelding operation. Sherry finished the day with victory on Peter Snowden-trained King Of Roseau.
Storm The Ramparts’ jockey Reece Jones was fined $400 for an audible obscenity in the scales area after the defeat. He said his frustrations had boiled over, and the breach was out of character. He said he had been “absolutely hammered” by race goers on the way in.
Jockey Josh Parr raised concern at Rosehill on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images
Roper lucky to walk away
Jockey Josh Parr labelled wayward country galloper Highway Strip “dangerous” after its part in the fall of apprentice Anna Roper and Rob Agnew-trained Pony Soprano at Rosehill.
Roper, who was stood down by the club doctor from the rest of the day, was fortunate to walk away from the fall. Pony Soprano appeared to escape serious injury.
The pair fell near the 750m mark of the 1100m Highway Handicap when Danny Williams-trained Highway Strip shifted out, forcing Roper’s mount onto the heels of Never Fails.
Roper said Highway Strip was racing ungenerously on her inside, and she believed the fall came from a combination of him hanging out and Never Fails cutting across.
Parr told stewards he expressed his disappointment to the stable about the horse’s poor racing manners and said “at no point did I feel I had control of that horse”.
“There was no response from the horse from any command that I gave him, and I’d go as far as to say it’s a dangerous horse,” Parr said.
Highway Strip, the race favourite, hung out on the turn but finished strongly for fourth.
Highway Strip had been sent back to the trials previously for its poor racing manners, and Williams told stewards the horse had worked and trialled well since his last-start second at Randwick on January 25. Stewards ordered that Highway Strip trial twice to their satisfaction before being allowed to race again.
Three-year-old Shropshire Lad ($8.50) won the race, breaking through for his first Highway win.
Knights Armour scored at Rosehill on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images
Knights Armour
Knights Armour provided a career highlight for Braidwood cattle farmer and hobby trainer Ross Lavis and Swedish apprentice Rebecca Bronett Prag when the six-year-old gave both a first Saturday city win.
Bronett Prag raced Knights Armour ($12) into second-last spot in the 2400m benchmark 78 handicap before cutting the corner with an inside run on the home bend. Knights Armour, the only horse Lavis trains, made the most of the economical trip to land a half-length victory over Good Banter.
“He tries his heart out, and I knew the 2400, he was going to see it out no worries at all,” Lavis said.
Bronett Prag, who came to Australia as a teenager, also scored her first metro midweek win with Knights Armour.
Chad Schofield after riding Without Peer to a win on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images
Maher 2YO scores surprise win
Ciaron Maher-trained Without Peer will race into the spring after scoring a surprise win on debut at Rosehill on Saturday.
Coming off two unplaced trials, the Pierata gelding was a $12 Sportsbet chance and near last in the 1200m two-year-old handicap before storming down the centre of the track for jockey Chad Schofield to hold off Spice Prawn by a short neck.
Maher assistant trainer Johann Gerard-Dubord said the win “surprised us a bit”.
“He’s a gelding, so we will just go through the grades with him and space his runs heading into the spring,” Gerard-Dubord said.
“He’s got a lot of talent, but he’s still very raw, and we saw that in both of his trials, especially his first one.
“I don’t think it was the deepest two-year-old Saturday race, which is why he ran today.
“We just felt 1200 around Rosehill would be a very good starting point. We just wanted him to have a good experience.
“He’s still doing a few things wrong, so I think there’s a lot more to come.”
Loading
Big talent on way to success
Premier trainer Chris Waller expects Useapin to kick on after she was strong late to win second up at Rosehill on Saturday.
The three-year-old daughter of Waller’s Everest winner, Yes Yes Yes, fought off Scott Singleton-trained Dollar Magic to claim the benchmark 78 handicap over 1200m for fillies and mares. It was a 14th runner-up effort from Dollar Magic.
Waller expected more success after Useapin’s fourth victory in 11 starts.
“It was a long straight and Zac [Lloyd] got her out into plenty of air, but she looked like she was going to be vulnerable with 200 to go, but she did enough and she was brave the last bit,” Waller said.
“She’s a big girl and she’s always shown us promise, but through that big size has struggled to put it together every start, but she’s on her way and she should have a good six months.”
