Respected racing.com analyst, Ben Asgari is confident Hennessy Lad is a ‘pretty smart type’ after the gelding comfortably stepped to 1800m for the first time in his career and registered his first Saturday metropolitan victory.
Purchased out of New Zealand for $80,000 by Peter Moody and Wylie Dalziel, the three-year-old continues the hot run of form for the Moody Dalziel Racing combination who have enjoyed a golden period since the calendar ticked to 2023.
Hennessy Lad resumed this preparation with a mid-week win at Sandown in December over 1400m, but had little luck in his subsequent two runs at 1400m and a mile.
Given a lovely ride by Carleen Hefel at Sandown, Hennessy Lad had clear running down the straight and lengthened beautifully to eat up the 1800m journey and give a strong indication he’ll handle 2000m and potentially beyond, opening plenty of doors for the future.
“I saw I had a bit to do (at the 200m) and at one stage thought I’m just going to run a nice second here, then he went through his gears and I know he was going to get there.”
In his five career starts, Hennessy Lad has now eclipsed $165,000 in prizemoney delivering a loyal team of owners more than double their investment, lots of fun and, ideally, much more of both to come
