QUEST MASTER only had one start as a two-year-old for a very impressive win on the synthetic surface at Spreyton but his return to the scene yesterday of his debut was even more impressive.
The Adam Trinder-trained three-year-old gelding settled midfield and travelled well to the home turn with in-form rider Kelvin Sanderson aboard.
When Sanderson called on the son of Masterpiece for the supreme effort in the home straight he cruised to the leaders and went on to score by almost a length from the favourite Daunting Dancer with Testa Gee Gee a closing third.
Trinder said Quest Master had been working well but was mindful that it was a tough race to tackle first-up.
“This was a tough assignment first-up because he was against older horses and many with good form so we would have been happy had he figured in the first four,” Trinder said.
“He is still effectively only a two-year-old yet he carried 57 kilograms and drew an outside barrier (10).”
Quest Master had not shown a lot in his trackwork leading up to the race but that was not out of the ordinary according to his trainer.
“In the stable he is a very unassuming type that doesn’t work overly flash but he is one of those horses that obviously saves it all for race day,” Trinder said.
With two wins from as many starts Trinder is now looking forward to the gelding’s three-year-old season.
“He has impressed me both times he has come to the races so we can now look at some of the feature three-year-old races wit a touch of confidence.”
“The horse is owned by good people who don’t get involved in race planning or those sorts of things so winning races when you have those sorts of owners is extra special,” he said.
Quest Master is raced by Paul Costello and Andrew Cowley who were both overseas when the horse won on debut.
“We missed his first win but that was awesome today. It looks like we’ve got a fair horse,” Cowley said.
Trinder said he was unsure of where Quest Master would race next but given the ease with which he dispensed with his rivals in the class one he could be given a freshen-up and be aimed at the 3YO Cup under lights at Mowbray in November.
Trinder also is pleased to have Second Dozen back in work.
Second Dozen won multiple races as a juvenile when with John Blacker but when the horse’s form waned in Victoria he was sent to Trinder and he won four times last preparation.
“Second Dozen has been back in the stable for a week and his main target this prep will be the Devonport Cup.”
he said.