Gun juvenile scores another brilliant win

David Moran has plenty of special memories with the progeny of sire Modern Art and he looks set to make many more if the early-season harness racing form of gun juvenile Timmy Rictor (Modern Art) is anything to go by.

Moran trained and drove another son of Modern Art, the great Lochinvar Art, during a glorious period through 2018 and 2022, picking up multiple Group 1 wins and two Victorian Horse of the Year titles along the way.

And while Emma Stewart prepares Timmy Rictor, Moran will still enjoy this ride from the best seat in the house.

Moran was at the controls on Saturday night at Melton as the young pacer scored a brilliant win in the Prydes EasiFeed 2YO Pace. He led easily from barrier six, controlled things at the head of affairs and then dashed home in a sizzling 26.9sec final quarter to beat Dee Roe by nearly 20m.

“He honestly done it in second gear,” Moran said after the 1:54.2 triumph.

“He was absolutely jogging. There’s not a lot of times you can go to the wire in a 26.9sec quarter and you’ve got a pretty strong hold on them.”

An amazingly cheap $7000 buy, Moran said the bay colt was a “ready-made” two-year-old pacer.

“I’ve always found the Modern Arts, they do seem to get better with a bit of age so if he’s got improvement in him, it’s quite promising,” he said.

“There’s a couple of really nice horses at Emma (Stewart) and (partner) Clayton’s (Tonkin) stable at the moment going through those two-year-old races…

“It’s probably a little bit hard to match them up until he really races some good ones and has got to do a bit of work, but I think he’s pretty special.”

The horse is out of a mare by the name of Bettors Package, who before Timmy Rictor had only produced the modestly-performed Moreartsthanclass, Shoobee Gotcha and Shoobees Spirit.

Timmy Rictor won his debut start in a heat of the Bathurst Gold Crown and produced a big run for second in the Group 1 final during March before Saturday night’s result at Melton.

He’s likely to forever live in his little brother’s shadow, but Yambukian (Bettor’s Delight) put his name up in lights on Saturday night with a dominant front-running success in the inaugural staging of the Allied Express Lennytheshark Free For All.

Trained by Andy Gath and driven by his wife Kate, the five-year-old defeated his fast class rivals in what was his first start since January.

He strolled to the front and was never seriously challenged as Kate clicked up the tempo in the final lap with closing quarters of 29.8sec, 28.2sec and 27.1sec for an overall mile rate of 1:56.8min (2240m).

Second was Courageous Saint, with Julie Douglas-trained stablemate Kosimo third.

Yambukian is by Bettors Delight out of Coppagoodone, which makes him a half-brother to the Gath yard’s superstar pacer Catch A Wave.

And while it’s unlikely he’ll ever reach the heights of his stablemate, Yambukian is building a handy career record that now reads 11 wins from 29 starts for prizemoney earnings up over $140,000.

Stewart produced the only double of the night at Melton when Our Vinnie swept home from back in the field to win the Dynamic Print 3YO Pace for Mark Pitt.

For complete race results, click here.

by Tim O’Connor, for Harness Racing Victoria