Craig Williams predicted a bright future for Magic Time’s younger half-brother Henlein, but over distances greater than his sibling excels at, following his impressive win at Bendigo on Tuesday.
The Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained son of Dundeel got his career off to a perfect start with a strong win in the 1300-metre maiden.
That is 100m shorter than the distance of Magic Time’s two Group 1 wins, in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes and All Aged Stakes, which Williams considered a good launching pad for Helein’s career to come.
“For his first-up run, a two-year-old taking on the older horses, I thought he’s got a lot of upside especially when he starts getting out in trip,” Williams said.
Williams made use of barrier one to hold the spot behind the leader aboard the $2.20 favourite, popped off its back at the 300m and finished strongest to score a 1-1/4-length win over Mark and Levi Kavanagh-trained debutant Late Harvest ($10).
“The plan today was just to give him a good experience from his inside barrier draw,” Williams said.
“They (Freedman stable) said they’d done enough with him at home and they said they might be a bit quick for him but they were confident if he gets the right run he might be good enough to win and they were right.”
Henlein is the third foal from Nicconi mare Time Awaits, whose first product was Magic Time, a daughter of Hellbent who has now won six of 12 starts and $2.1 million.
Time Awaits’ second foal Cosmonova has won two of her three starts and the Zoustar three-year-old is down to resume at Warwick Farm on Wednesday.