Baby still full of Energy
Extra 2.5kg should not stop Jerome Tan’s smart last-start winner from scoring again
The smart money came by the lorryloads late at his last start on Feb 17 and the grey Energy Baby duly delivered – with aplomb.
A five-year-old trained by Jerome Tan for Happy Baby Stable, his victory in that $50,000 Class 4 event over 1,400m was top notch.
The New Zealand-bred gelding jumped beautifully and camped cosily on the speed – in third – behind King Of Sixty-One and Con Speranza.
King Of Sixty-One stole a margin at the top of the straight – at least by five lengths – and it would need a horse with a Ferrari engine to catch up.
On the day, Energy Baby possessed that.
So, once French jockey Ryan Curatolo stepped on the accelerator, Energy Baby pricked his ears back and lengthened strides like a champion thoroughbred.
He narrowed the gap so quickly that he already overtook the leader easily 100m out.
This prompted the excited race commentator, Scott Bailey, to blurt “that’s a big plunge, gets the coin”. He meant the smart money had paid dividends ($13 for a $5 outlay).
Energy Baby scooted away to “dethrone the king” by 1¼ lengths in 1min 22.63sec.
His facile victory earned him a five-point penalty which equates to 2.5kg in handicapping terms.
But rising from 56kg to 58.5kg will unlikely prevent Energy Baby from making it back-to-back at the same Class 4 level over the same distance in Race 10 on March 17.
The 1,400m trip is ideal for the horse, whose Feb 17 success was his second over that journey. His other win was over 1,600m.
Energy Baby has shown that he is still in full throttle, judging by his spirited 600m hit-out on March 12.
With Curatolo at the helm, he was full of running when clocking 38.3sec. He pulled up on his toes and floated back to Tan’s stables.
Back to his Feb 17 race, several of the horses he beat are in the same March 17 race – Te Akau Ben (3rd), Creative Dreams (4th), Gold Governor (5th) and Lim’s Craft (9th).
Energy Baby is conceding some weight to them but, in top form, he should prevail again.
He is a strong horse, weighing 506kg at his last start, so he should handle the 58.5kg.
Another easy last-start winner who has also thrived and can make a running double is Pacific Commander in Race 4.
The Jason Ong-trained and Pacific Stable-owned three-year-old also remains in the same Class 4 over the similar Polytrack 1,200m trip.
He has picked up seven points and will shoulder 3.5kg more at 56kg. He, too, is a big animal and should make light of that weight.
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