MAOTAI RETURNS WITH AN EMPHATIC FIRST-UP WIN

By Graham Potter | Saturday, August 3, 2024

First-up wins don’t come more emphatic than this.

You had to go back eight runs, two trainers and a full seventeen months to find the last win of the Maotai before the six-year-old gelding lined up in a BM84 Handicap over 1100m at Flemington on August 3 in what was not only his first start for the Moody / Coleman training partnership, but also his first run for the KO & KC Thoroughbred Racing Group.

Maotai had finished unplaced in his last five starts going into this latest assignment which he came into after an eight-month break from racing and freshened up by the change of scenery that oh so often comes with the stable change.

He did have one trial leading into the race to bring him along, and Maotai would come out firing to the degree that his connections could really enjoy what was a famous victory for them ... the result took the syndicators achievements to a new level ... as Maotai (who was easy to back at $8.50), raced down the centre of the track with meaning to get to the leader Little Miss Kubi ($7.50) approaching the 200m mark.

Giving the momentum Maotai had been resolutely building from the 400m, the race looked well in Maotai’s keeping long before he took Little Miss Kubi’s measure.
Luke Nolen then made sure Maotai sustained his run to the line and, with no real threat materialising from behind inside the final 200m itself, Maotai got home by a comfortable 1.75 length margin.

Underlining the strength of the effort was the fact Maotai, not only had to carry the steadying burden of 60kg, but that meant he carried a whopping 6kg more than the eventual runner up Shove Over ($26).

This result reflected a special moment in the KO Racing history.

From humble beginnings to mixing it with the big boys on a grand, metropolitan stage, it’s been a pretty good ride with the absolute promise of more to come ... and the $71 500 winner’s cheque going into the kitty, well that wasn’t too shabby either.

More articles