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Ollie's advice will be followed in Standish Handicap
Riding legend Damien Oliver’s advice won’t be forgotten in Saturday’s Group 3 Standish Handicap at Flemington.
Wodonga trainer Craig Widdison went against the Hall of Famer’s advice and paid the penalty with The Prodigal Son at Canberra last month.
The Prodigal Son won from the back of the field in Sydney first-up, but Widdison put his hand up as the cause of the handy sprinter’s disastrous outing in a $200,000 race in Canberra.
“It was my fault, not (jockey) Nick’s (Souquet), but I think we just rode him too close,” Widdison said.
“We thought there wasn’t a lot of speed and drew barrier one, so we thought we’d take advantage of that.”
That plan went against Oliver’s thoughts after he rode The Prodigal Son to win down the Flemington straight in August 2023.
Oliver brought The Prodigal Son from the back of the field to win over the Standish Handicap course, providing a tactical template for the gelding.
“Ollie told us to ride him like that too, he told us to leave him alone and he thought that would work for him,” Widdison said.
“As usual, he would be right; we should know better by now.”
Naturally, Widdison said he would revert to The Prodigal Son’s previous tactics for the Standish Handicap in which punters have specked the five-year-old from $34 into $21.
“We have to let him find his feet and let him finish off,” Widdison said.
Widdison said The Prodigal Son has progressed well since his unplaced Canberra outing while the son of Fighting Sun was in fairly at the weights with 54kg.
“I couldn’t be happier with him,” Widdison said.
“We just hope he measures up.
“Ratings-wise, the top rater is only 10 points above him so it’s not like we’re going right into the deep end.”
Blaike McDougall will ride The Prodigal Son in the Standish Handicap, while Souquet will ride his stablemate Duped By Spin in the Jockey Acknowledgement Plate (1600m).
Duped By Spin finished fourth at Wagga at her second-up run on Christmas Eve but Widdison noted the five-year-old had seven weeks between runs after a mishap on Wodonga Cup Day.
“We were meant to go to the Wodonga Cup but she slipped in the tie-up stalls before the race so she ended up seven weeks between runs.
“She’s a bit older now, so she might take a run or two.”
Duped By Spin is a $34 chance in early betting.
Words: Brad Waters (Racenet)
Image: Racing Photos
