By MATT NICHOLLS
STORM Ahead gave his Armidale owners an unexpected thrill when he surged to victory on his home track on Monday.
The Sandra McCormack-trained gelding was having his first start for 12 weeks and was not predicted to be a major player in the $15,000 Class 3 Handicap (1100m).
But the six-year-old made the most of a perfect run in transit to surge to an easy victory.
Jockey Raymond Spokes found himself stalking the leading pair and as he peeled off their backs in the straight, Storm Ahead flew past to win by almost two lengths.
“We thought he might have been a bit underdone as he’d only had one track gallop on the grass,” McCormack said.
“He’d been five or six weeks into work and was going along so nicely so we decided to give him a run.
“One of the owners said to me we should put him in a barrier trial after the last race, but I thought he was going so well I decided to race him.”
McCormack said she didn’t expect the horse to win.
“I thought he might be able to run a place, but I didn’t expect that result,” she said.
Keeping Storm Ahead fresh might be the key to success, the trainer admitted.
“Raymond got off him and said ’whatever you are doing with him, keep doing it’, so I guess we’ll space his runs out a bit,” McCormack said.
The horse was brought to Armidale from Sydney in 2011 and was originally trained by Mark Gwynne before being transferred to McCormack’s stables at Invergowrie.
Storm Ahead is owned by Armidale residents Nathan Mace, George Marshall, Tracey Kollsche, Phil Williams, Ros Stahlhut, Ryan Dawson, Phil and Pam Lisle, Ben Kleeman and Rob Montgomery.
