In Brief
- Twin wins in succession for Needs Further gelding.
- Trainer always had high hopes for Orange Roughie.
- Great strike rate since joining Shaw stable.
Trainer Stephen Shaw has been waiting a long time for his well-bred gelding Orange Roughie to shine and in Launceston last Saturday the gelding stood out like a beacon under lights at the Ladbrokes Racing Centre.
With Bulent Muhcu aboard, Orange Roughie stalked the leaders to the home turn and when eased off the rail to challenge he stormed to the lead and hit the line eight lengths clear of Valcurl with Mystical Warrior a half-length astern.
The Needs Further gelding impressed at his previous start to win a maiden and only a very small percentage of horses can win a class one at their subsequent outing.
“This horse just needed time to develop and Royston Carr did a great job with him when he trained him early on,” Shaw said.
“I didn’t have room for him at my place, so he went to Chris Crook first-off and then over to Royston’s where he spent most of his time until he came to me early this year.
“The way he went tonight I’d say he has a few more wins in him and he could get better over more ground.”
Orange Roughie has had five starts for Shaw for two wins and two seconds and a fourth.
The gelding could have his next start in a benchmark race over 1600 metres in Launceston in a fortnight.
Watch Orange Roughie score an emphatic win over 1420m in Launceston on Saturday night.