A gear change and a favourable race tempo helped to unlock the potential of Lyrical Gangster with an impressive win at Randwick.
The Proisir gelding headed a New Zealand-bred quinella in the Benchmark 78 event, beating last-start winner Monfelicity by three-quarters of a length. Lyrical Gangster has now had 10 starts for three wins and two placings, earning $165,150 for his co-breeders Cam and Chas Stewart, who race the four-year-old in partnership with Michael Hughes.
Since winning on the Kensington track in early November, Lyrical Gangster has been strongly supported for two subsequent starts and has been slightly disappointing in finishing third at Kembla Grange and a last-start fourth at Randwick.
Trainer Chris Waller elected to replace blinkers with winkers on Saturday, and with a perfect ride from in-form jockey Kerrin McEvoy, Lyrical Gangster turned his form around.
McEvoy had Lyrical Gangster tucked up in behind the speed for most of the race, then presented him in the straight to make his run. Six horses lined up across the track at the 200m in a desperate scramble to the finish, but Lyrical Gangster lifted and kicked strongest of all.
“That was a deserved win,” Waller said. “He's been a work in progress. He's always shown ability, but he's been a bit of a heartbreak horse to watch at times.
“I said to the owners Cam and Chas Stewart that if we could get his gear right, we can win a decent race with him, and then he'll train on and get some confidence, and I think that's the way he's heading. I've just been on the phone to them – they think I'm a genius and I think they're pretty good too. They're great supporters of ours, and that's what racing is all about.
“He's a really big horse and is still growing into himself. Horses like him probably don't mature until they're four or five-year-old years, so I think he can win more races once he fills out and gets that confidence.”
McEvoy was impressed with Lyrical Gangster's improvement from his last-start performance.
“I think they might have just gone a bit too fast for him the other day,” he said. “He's a bit of a quirky lad. Today, with the steadier tempo, he was able to settle a bit closer.
“Chris changed the blinkers back to the winkers, and I just wanted him to be a bit more enthusiastic out of the gates. He was able to travel after a couple of furlongs, and when I gave him a bit of a smooch around the corner, he came up underneath me and I knew we were in play.
“Full credit to the horse – he was able to do his best work and get across the line. He's heading in the right direction.”