Delmonico delivers rewarding win

Six-year-old gelding Delmonico rewarded his connections with an impressive win in the $35,000 Optimise Fertilisers (1600m) on the grass course at Riccarton on Saturday.

The Andrew Carston-trained son of Prince of Brooklyn, benefited from an efficient ride from stable apprentice Sima Mxothwa, who snuck along the inside running rail to win by two-lengths, paying $17.50 for the win.

It was the sixth career win for Delmonico, who despite many a decent run, had not won a race since July last year.

“It was a big surprise when he dashed through on the fence,” Carston said.

“It’s been a bit of a frustrating preparation with him because he’s been going good enough his last few runs without getting a result.

His last four runs had resulted in three fourths and a fifth placing, all on the Riccarton Polytrack.

“He’s been pretty consistent and I thought he would have won a race on the Poly before this prep, but things haven’t gone to plan in the race, the Poly is very tempo related and things just haven’t gone his way,” Carston said.

“So, I thought I’d roll the dice and have a run on the grass and he was very good.

“The track dried out too, which made me even more nervous, but he was very good and it was a rewarding win for his owners who have been very patient.

Delmonico is raced by Andrew Bryant and Dave Armstrong under their Andari Ltd banner.

The win was one of two on the day for Mxothwa, the other being Montero for Kieran McCauley, who recently made the move from the North Island to join Carston’s team.

“He’s had four winners in the last week,” Carston said. “He’s starting to get some momentum up so let’s hope that continues, his three-kilo claim will be a big asset going forward through the winter too.”