Malt Time powering away with the ITM/GIB Sprinters’ Winter Championship Final. Photo / Therese Davis
The class of Group 1 performer Malt Time shone through again at Ruakaka on Saturday, recovering from a sluggish start to score a runaway win in the ITM/Gib Sprinters’ Winter Championship Final (1400m).
Malt Time was sent out as a $2.30 favourite for the $60,000 sprint feature, having scored impressive wins in both of her two previous starts at the venue including a six-length romp over the same distance two starts ago on June 8. In between times she was a strong-finishing second, against the pattern of the day, in the Listed Tauranga Classic (1400m).
The connections and supporters of Malt Time briefly had their hearts in their mouths as she missed the start and dropped out to be a clear last in the early stages of Saturday’s race, but jockey Ace Lawson-Carroll was unfazed. He allowed the seven-year-old to cruise around at the tail of the seven-horse field, then brought her to the outside and started to get her warmed up just before the home turn.
Malt Time was still second-last at the top of the straight, but then she produced a turn of foot that none of her rivals could match. She swept past them within a few powerful strides and drew clear, opening up a winning margin of three and a quarter lengths. The 1200m were run in 1:10.44 on a Good4 track.
“There was always going to be a bit of speed on in the race, so we just bided our time behind them,” Lawson-Carroll said. “I got her to the outside at the home turn and she won it very well. Now I’m just hoping I can stay with her for some of the bigger races coming up.”