Nice horses are nothing new for Gerald Ryan but there was no doubt Nuke’s win in Friday’s Silver Goblet would have madethe Group 1 winning trainer sit at and take note.
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Warwick Farm-based Ryan didn’t make the trip to Dubbo but his name was up in lights at the track as Nuke took out the $30,000 two-year-old feature in convincing fashion.
Nuke jumped a hot $2.10 favourite and James Innes Jnr produced a calm performance in the saddle on his the way to scoring a half-length win.
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“It was a matter of giving him every chance,” Innes Jnr said after saluting in the King’s Hall Jewellers Silver Goblet over 1110m.
“This fella has only been beat two-and-a-half lengths in town at Saturday grade so he was always going to be hard to beat and it was a matter of timing the run.”
The event at Dubbo was the third start of Nuke’s career, with a promising third-place at Warwick Farm on debut followed by a disappointing run at Rosehill.
He was spelled for 25 weeks after that and while he matured in that time, Innes Jnr said there’s a lot more to see from the gelding.
“The penny still hasn't dropped with him and I didn’t hit him until we were probably 50 yards out but he was all over the shop,” he said.
“Once that penny drops he’ll win more races, for sure.
“There’s obviously a lot of upside and obviously he was very raw in transit but he’ll go home and back to the drawing board and we’ll see where we go from there.”
With Ryan not making the trip to Dubbo, Nuke spent his time before Friday’s race in the stables of a former Silver Goblet winner in Clint Lundholm.
Innes Jnr settled back in the field after jumping from barrier seven while leading hometown hope Bedtime Stories (Greg Ryan, $3.30) led the way from the Dar Lunn-trained Isaac’s Kolt (Michael Hackett, $61).
Nuke moved forward on the inside and the gap Innes Jnr was waiting for appeared along the rail as the field turned for home.
From there it was straightforward for the experienced jockey as he mowed down the field and cruised to an impressive win.
Brett Cavanough’s Scherzare (Chad Lever, $31) produced a strong run down the straight to finish in second spot while $101 chance Miss Lon (Travis Wolfgram), trained by Rodney Robb, ran home well for third.
The result sealed a race-to-race double for Ryan and Innes Jnr having taken out the 3YO And Up Maiden Handicap (1010m) with Miss Celebration ($2.20 favourite) by two-and-a-half lengths.
“It was good to come back out to the country, especially for a showcase meeting,” Innes Jnr added.