Our Marscapony provided a perfect debut and a wonderful tonic for the Armstrong family at Kilmore on Thursday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The filly proved too strong in the first two-year-old race of the season, giving the Coolamon family a much needed lift.
It was not only her first win, the first win in Australia for her sire Betterthancheddar, and a win for trainer Liam Armstrong at his first attempt, but a perfect boost for co-owner Garry Armstrong, who is hospitalised in Sydney battling cancer.
Liam took over the training responsibilities from his father and was thrilled to come away with win.
“She went pretty good and I thought she was going to go pretty good,” Armstrong said.
“I thought if anything was going to beat her they would have to break two minutes.”
Sent to the early lead by leading Victorian reinsman Greg Sugars, Our Marscapony cruised to the line for a 5.4-metre win.
Clocking a mile rate of 2:01.4, Armstrong believes there was plenty left in reserve.
Armstrong is looking to have Sugars travel up for the MIA Breeders Plate carnival.
Leeton’s feature race remains the next aim, but Armstrong is looking to be cautious with the filly.
“I think she is good enough, and she can go quicker, I just hope we are not over cooking her too much,” he said. “She has a bit of ability, and did it pretty easy, but we just don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.”