BATTLEFIELD ADDS TO BURGEONING REPUTATION

By Graham Potter | Thursday, July 16, 2009

The Paul Messara trained Battlefield was again busy building his reputation and boosting his following at Grafton yesterday.

A resounding win in the Ramornie Handicap, achieved somewhat against the odds in the historical terms, means that the good-looking son of the crack sprinter Choisir will go to the paddock with a future filled with promise.

The Ramornie was Battlefield’s fourth successive win. He is unbeaten in his latest prep. It is not only this run of success that has been impressive, it is the manner in which his victories have been achieved that has caught punters’ imagination.

The Class 1 win at the Sunshine Coast was little more than a training gallop, but things got serious when Messara brought the chestnut to town. Kerrin McEvoy was on the three-year-old when his exceptional turn of foot really came to the fore in a 3yo Handicap as he left his rivals floundering to score every bit as easily as the official four length margin suggests.

The authority Battlefield showed there ticked enough boxes for Messara to elect to raise the bar and test the horse in Listed company in the Ascot Handicap at Eagle Farm on July 4. His win there, this time with Daniel Ganderton holding the reins, could not have been more impressive as he stormed home, in spite of showing some of the insecurities of inexperience, to beat the more-than-useful Wasted Emotions and Mitanni back into the minor placings.

Then it was on to the Ramornie where Battlefield produced another barnstorming finish to become the first three-three-old to win the race since 1996. Battlefield started second favourite. The main fancy News Alert weakened when it mattered most to be well beaten out of the placings.

Battlefield’s, whose overall race-record now reads six wins from eight starts, will now be go to the paddock with Messara looking top set him for Melbourne in the Spring.

The other notable achievement of the Ramornie meeting was the success of the Tim Martin / Tye Angland combination. This duo took out four of the first five races on the card.