WALLINGER MAKES IT TWO FROM TWO THIS PREP

By Graham Potter | Saturday, May 16, 2009

The Lee Freedman trained Wallinger made it two from two this prep when he landed the opening event on the card at Flemingron.

Dwayne Dunn positioned his mount just outside the hindquarters of his market rival, the front-running Kwassa Kwassa for much of the trip. With 180m left to run, Wallinger was asked to reel in the leader. He did that, gradually eating into Kwassa Kwassa’s advantage to get his head in front when it mattered most.

Dane Babylon made steady ground on the outside over the final 100m to snatch the runner-up position away from the game Kwassa Kwassa in the last few strides.
While the margins of a short-neck by a short half-head reflected a narrow victory, Wallinger had done all that was asked of him with the promise of more to come. He has only run three times. He was only ordinary on debut and was put out for a spell straight after that. He was then gelded and returned to claim his Maiden victory first-up in Adelaide. This was the next step.

Dane Babylon’s run also represented sound improvement. The Leon Corstens trained colt had been beaten by six lengths by Wallinger in that Adelaide start. He was 2kg better off with Wallinger this time around and he managed to bring his margin of defeat down to less than a quarter-of-a-length.

For the third placed Kassa Kwassa, this was a fourth successive minor placing, a run of results which includes a second placed finish behind the new rising star, Black Caviar. His consistency should be rewarded soon.