VICTORIAN jockey Casey Bruce has dubbed nine-year-old gelding Wallis a genuine “war horse” after he scored an emphatic win in the Schweppes Open handicap over 2080 metres on the Derwent Track at Tattersall’s Park in Hobart yesterday.
The Larry Dalco-trained gelding had been out of the winner’s circle since May last year but now that he has regained winning form connections are confident he will be competitive in whatever he contests in the near future.
Wallis’s form going into this latest assignment was good enough to suggest he would run well but his win was so authoritative it belied his starting price of $7.
Wallis has been a good money spinner for his owners and the trainer having now won 13 and been placed 18 times from 97 starts for just over $170,000.
Bruce had Wallis settled second last in the field of six on a hot pace set by Ben Annalou.
When the pace slackened about 1200m out Wallis moved to within four lengths of the leaders and was within striking distance when the field hit the home turn.
The favourite Relentless Pursuit (Stephen Maskiell) claimed the lead at the top of the straight and kicked clear but he was unable to fend off the powerful finish of Wallis.
Listen to what jockey Casey Bruce had to say about the win of Wallis – click here .