Sporty Charlie wins impressively on debut

Debutante Sporty Charlie provided the perfect birthday present for Myross Bush horseman Brad Morris and for his mother Lynley when he impressively won at the Gore Harness Racing Club meeting at Wyndham today.

The Sportswriter two-year-old was widely tipped as a star on the rise when he impressively qualified at Winton earlier this month and he carried most of the punter’s investments to be the $1.60 favourite.

From gate four driver Brent Barclay took Sporty Charlie straight to the top before handing up to Boo.

Turning in, it looked like Unsurpassable, which had shot clear would go on and win with Sporty Charlie two lengths away and in traffic. But Barclay didn’t panic, and the gelding let down in the middle of the track to win easily by three quarters of a length.

Sporty Charlie winning on debut for trainer Brad Morris and driver Brent Barclay

“He’s always had the ability and I’ve liked him, but he just needed to show it on race day,” Morris said. I knew he was good when we took him to the workouts and had company. He ran the mile and a half in 3-10 and the half in 57.1.”

Sporty Charlie is raced by Morris in partnership with his brother Justin and his mother Lynley.

Lynley was celebrating her birthday today and Brads was on Sunday so it was a timely win.

Sporty Charlie, named after Brad’s son, is out of the Washington VC mare Flashonbye which ran second on debut on the Wyndham track in 2010. From just nine starts she had two seconds and two thirds. The family goes back to Can Annie Go, the winner of five from sixteen starts and Classy Topic which Brad’s grandfather Ron Macdonald trained. He won seven of his twenty-three starts.

by Bruce Stewart