MR VERSE HITS JUST THE RIGHT NOTE

By Graham Potter | Saturday, July 5, 2025

You certainly can’t fault the form of the Lope De Vega gelding Mr Verse, who saluted for third time in six starts at the Sunshine Coast when he arrived with inch perfect timing under a great ride from Ashley Morgan to slip past Gossip Girl, who had looked the likely winner inside the final 100m, to get to the front when it mattered most.

Mr Verse, who was first-up here following a four-and-a-half break from race action, was making it back-to-back wins having won his previous start at Pakenham over 1600m back in mid-February.

Fresh over 1200m at the Sunshine Coast, the Tony and Calvin McEvoy trained chestnut was running over his shortest distance yet and at his fifth track in six starts, two facts which underline his adaptability.

He has now won over 1200m and over 1600m (twice) … after starting out with a fourth place finish over 1350m on debut. He also has a second place over 1600m and a third place over 1800m to his credit in his short career, finishing less than 1.50 lengths off the winner in both of those placed efforts.

In other words, although he is still learning his trade, Mr Verse has yet to run a back race. This BM70 was another confidence builder and a clear step in the right direction.

The runner-up Gossip Girl, similarly put in a bold first-up showing, only falling a couple of strides short of victory while the third placed Runwiththetide was also right there in the closing stages without finding that extra snap to be able to get to Gossip Girl or go with the faster finishing Mr Verse.

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