Mr Midnight (4yo gelding by Written By) claimed victory in the Benchmark 50 at Ballina Racecourse (Turf, 1015m, total prize money of $16,000). After a good start, he took the lead and set his own pace throughout the race. In the home straight, he held off the challengers to secure a convincing win. Previously trained in the Sydney region, this was his ninth start since joining Japanoz stable and marked his first win.

Nori commented, “Everything went according to plan from barrier one. The horse is in great condition, and if everything goes to our plan, I’m confident we’ll have more chances to win in the near future.” Daiki added, “When this horse first transferred to Japanoz Stable, he had a habit of hanging in, which hindered his performance in several early starts for us. To address this, we incorporated flatwork techniques from dressage and had Nori ride him in training to better understand his quirks. With the use of equipment to correct his bit issues and running him along the rail from the inside draw, we were able to get the best out of him today. The firm track at Ballina also suited him perfectly. Despite carrying a heavy handicap of 60.5kg, he gave his all and delivered a great result.”

On the same day, Risk For Reward (4yo colt by All Too Hard) went off as the favorite but had to settle for second place. After saving ground in the inside position behind the leaders, he made a strong bid in the straight but couldn’t quite catch the winner.

Matt McGurran explained, “We had a good trip early on, but the pace suddenly quickened at the 800m mark. When I asked him for an effort, he was flat foote. The race didn’t unfold in our favor today.” Daiki added, “The winner utilized the track conditions well, controlling the pace from the front and sustaining his run. Our horse finished strongly but couldn’t close the gap. I apologize for not meeting expectations as the favorite. Fortunately, he pulled up sound after the race, so we’ll aim to have him ready for his next campaign after a good spell”