Jaeger breaks through at Waverley

Promising four-year-old Jaeger (NZ) (Time Test) picked the prime opportunity to put his best foot forward for trainer Robbie Patterson as he broke his rivals hearts with a stylish front-running display to take out the Waverley Harvesting 1650 at Waverley on Saturday.

The four-year-old son of Time Test had finished in and around the minor placings at his previous three starts, including a fourth-placed finish at Wanganui where rider Khavish Chowdhoory spent the majority of the home straight desperately seeking a clear run for his mount.

Chowdhoory took luck out of the equation this time as he sent Jaeger straight to the front where he dictated terms before booting clear at the 200m to win under a hold by nearly two lengths at the winning post.

Patterson wasn’t on track to celebrate the win, sitting comfortably at the Gold Coast racecourse with his mate Craig Grylls who was there to ride the Andrew Forsman-trained Single Red (NZ) (Vanburgh) in the Listed Gold Coast Bracelet (1800m) later in the day.

“I would have been disappointed if he (Jaeger) hadn’t gone close today as he was a certainty beaten at Wanganui,” Patterson said.

“Khavish didn’t make the same mistake today and with clear air and a soft lead he was always going to be hard to pull back.

“He still has a lot of growing and maturing to do as he has been quite weak to date, but as he gets that experience under his belt I think he could be quite a handy type in time.

“We will probably give him one more in this campaign as there is a nice rating 75 1200m at home (New Plymouth) in a couple of weeks then he can have a short break.

“If he improves like I think he will, he could be a Winter Cup (Gr.3, 1600m) type in his next campaign.”

Patterson is hoping he can add to his winning tally for the weekend at Wanganui on Sunday where he lines up three runners who each have claims to victory including promising three-year-old filly The Dirty Dee (NZ) (Derryn).

The daughter of Derryn hasn’t been seen since running towards the rear of the field in the Gr.3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) at Trentham in January.

“We put her aside after Trentham as she just wasn’t that happy when she pulled up and she has had a nice break,” Patterson said.

“I’m not sure what the weather has been doing at Wanganui as I would like a little rain for her, but her work has been very good and I would expect her class will take her a long way towards a win in what looks like a field she can handle.

“As long as she pulls up well we will pick our way through the winter and then have a decent crack with her in the spring.”

The other two runners for Patterson are the maidens Roc All Night (NZ) (El Roca), who ran second to Sierra Leone (NZ) (Sun City) on debut, and Bokushi (NZ) (Swiss Ace), who has finished in the top four in all of his three starts.

“Roc All Night is a very nice horse and comes from a lovely female side that includes his grand-dam Choice who won the Gr.3 Eulogy Stakes (1600m),” Patterson said.

“If he can go as well as he did on debut then he really should be winning.

“Bokushi is also knocking on the door and will be prominent as he had a small break after his last start and his work has been very good leading into this race.”