Boxmoss storms to Ellerslie victory

Progressive stayer Boxmoss (NZ) (Vadamos) showed his last start Te Rapa victory was no fluke as he produced another powerful home straight surge to capture The Lawn Shed Winter Series – Stayers Final (2100m) at Ellerslie.

Rider Warren Kennedy had the Chris Wood-prepared galloper beautifully relaxed and lobbing along against the running rail beyond midfield throughout as Drop Of Something and Khan Huner shared pacemaking duties out in front.

It began to look a little troubling for the race favourite approaching the home turn as Kennedy was going to need some luck extracting him into clear air to make his bid for glory as some of the back runners swooped into contention wider out.

Punters who backed the son of Vadamos into $2.90 on the Fixed Odds market never had any worries once Kennedy tracked through two off the fence behind eventual runner-up Hezashocka as Boxmoss unleashed his sharp sprint at the 200m and shot away to win comfortably by a neat length from Hezashocka with Pacifico close-up in third.

Wood admitted he had a few worries when he saw his charge in limited space approaching the turn but was confident he had the ability to still win from there.

“I would have liked to see him get to the outside, but he has to learn when he gets amongst them,” Wood said.

“He has got a superb finishing burst and Warren seems to have the knack of getting him to the front.

“They did open up as I was a little panicky on the turn but because he has that turn of foot he can pick them up.

“He will be in the paddock on Monday as Ian Farrelley (owner) has a magnificent facility out at Te Awamutu and he will have a month to six weeks out before we are back for the spring. He is untapped and he is only going to get better”

Kennedy was also concerned about the horse’s demeanour before the start as he is normally a little fired up, but on this occasion he was the exact opposite.

“I just had to put him in the right position as he was pretty slow away, so I got him on the fence where we could move up a few positions, which was better than sitting off them,” he said.

“They went a good enough pace, but I was worried as he was really really quiet before the race and Chris said that to me, but the horse obviously knew what he was doing and was conserving his energy. In the end he just glided through and won easily.

“He settles well now, stays well and has a good turn of foot, and I think he can be a real contender next prep.”

Bred and raced by Wood’s long-time friend and client Ian Farrelly, Boxmoss is out of the Stravinsky mare Pokuru Boxer and has now won six of his 28 starts and $159,855 in prizemoney.