Provincial galloper Written Up held off a fast finishing Gracious Prospect and Mahican to win the 2014 Bendigo Guineas this afternoon.
The Golden Mile and the Bendigo Guineas were both postponed after an electrical storm hit the Bendigo racecourse and the track was downgraded to a slow seven; delighting the connections of Written Up who scored an impressive win on a slow track on debut at Bendigo.
Written Up hit the front with 100 metres left to run and looked as though he was a sitting duck, with a number of swoopers storming down the outside, but was able to hang on and claim his maiden black type race win.
Trainer George Osborne admitted after the race that the wet track was ideal for Written Tycoon gelding and was clearly delighted to be able to record a feature race win with a horse that was narrowly denied in the Chandler Macleod Stakes (1500m) and the Gold Eldorado (1600m).
“The wet track is always going to help us,” Osborne said
“He has been right on the money every time and today we had a little advantage on the weights that we didn’t have at Wangarrata against those other horses.
“We also had this race and the next race planned a strong way out and we didn’t have him wound up the other day.
“We were pretty confident that we would run a big race, but geez they are hard to win.
“There is one of those VOBIS Gold mile races at Flemington in three weeks and that has been on our radar for about twelve months.”
Jockey Jamie Mott has ridden Written Up without success in his past four starts and gave the three-year-old a stellar ride; veering the gelding away from the inside of the track, which has been the most affected by the rain.
“I am very pleased that this horse has finally won for me,” Mott said.
“George has been very patient and he has mapped his races out really well; he deserves a win.
“The first time I rode him I really liked him and there is so much improvement there going forward.
“He is a very exciting horse.”