SHANLYN POH has always promised to deliver in a feature race and last Thursday night at Tattersall’s Park in Hobart he finally delivered against top company.
The Graeme Moate-trained dog had been out of the winner’s circle for almost two months but had been competitive against good opposition.
As has been the case of late the blue dog was slow to begin and had the entire field ahead of his nearing the top turn.
When they wheeled for home it looked a match between the leader Speed Direct and Justin’s Dream that was emerging from the pack.
But Shanlyn Poh loomed large at the top of the straight and when he put in the big strides 80 metres out he hauled in Speed Direct and went on to defeat that dog by a half-length with Justin’s Dream about three lengths astern.
Moate said he was confident his charge would be competitive but when he missed the start and was last at the 340-metre boxes he conceded victory would be beyond the son of Big Daddy Cool-Shanlyn Lass.
“This dog was beginning brilliantly early on but for some reason he has been making a habit of being slowly away and this time he just fell out of the boxes,” Moate said.
“But he is learning all the time and is now going around and going inside dogs instead of trying to barge through them.”
“I thought early on that he could develop into a top grade dog and I still think he can do it,” Moate said.
Shanlyn Poh has had only 28 starts for a dozen wins and nine minor placings for $21,600 in stakes.
“If everything goes to plan he will be tackling the Hobart Thousand series but the race I have always thought would be one to suit is the Devonport Cup,” Moate said.
“I’ll keep him ticking over and see how he is when those big races come around but they are in the long range plan,” he said.
This was Moate’s second St Leger triumph but that this year’s event was named in honour of one of the state’s greatest administrators, M. A. Morgan, added some significance to the victory.
“I won this race with Caltex Lad when it was last run at the Royal Showground,” Moate said.
“This event was the M. A. Morgan St Leger named after Arthur Morgan who was a chief steward and southern grader when I was in my early twenties and just getting started in the game.”
“I was a bit of a hot-head and Mr Morgan gave me some of the best advice I’d ever received from anyone in the game.”
“After a stewards’ inquiry one night he pulled me aside and gave me this advice.”
“He said that in the future whenever I was asked a question in a stewards’ inquiry I should count to 10 and then answer and he said I would give a much different answer than the one I would have given if I had answered straight away.”
“Ï have never forgotten that advice and I have lived by it ever since,” he said.