Racing: Wall Street confirms billing

Michael Coleman and Wall Street make winning look easy in the Kit Ormond Memorial Spring Classic at Hastings. Photo / APN

Wall Street confirmed his ranking as New Zealand's number one weight-for-age performer, easily carrying 59kg to victory and taking out the $250,000 Kit Ormond Memorial Spring Classic at Hastings yesterday.

The well-built son of Montjeu dominated the Group One race from the outset, with regular rider Michael Coleman punching forward from a wide barrier draw to sit outside the pace-setting Bruce Almighty.

Coleman had a quick look over his shoulders before the hometurn when deciding to let the favourite lengthen stride and clearing out from the opposition to score by three-quarters of a length over Ginga Dude.

A further half-head away third was Keep The Peace.

The second and third placegetters had their chances tracking the winner in every stride but could not produce the horsepower when needed.

"Yes he's a very good horse who has that special factor when he can quicken speed when asked and now we'll take him to Australia [for the Cox Plate] to see how he measures up," said trainer Jeff Lynds.

"We were a little bit unsure about how things would pan out from the wide draw and how the inside horses would come out at the start but it was a great ride from Michael Coleman."

Confirming the dominant performance of the winner was Cambridge trainer Shaune Ritchie who saddled up the third-placed Keep The Peace.

"My mare got into a great position to attack the winner but we're not quite strong enough at this point to knock over such a powerful racehorse in weight-for-age class.

"We'll now have to sit down and decide whether or not it's worth while dropping to 50kg in a handicap race and possibly heading to Melbourne to chase a Caulfield Cup start or stay here at home."

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Jonathan Riddell took full advantage of an inside barrier draw to kick home the locally-trained Jimmy Choux to score an effortless victory in the (Group Two) $85,000 Hawke's Bay Guineas.

Riddell had the consistent colt handily placed against the rail and covered no extra ground in the home stretch.

Jimmy Choux scored by a half-length over Icepin with a further three-quarters of a length back to Maradona.

"He was thereabouts last season as a 2-year-old and he has come up very well this time in as a 3-year-old," said trainer John Bary.

"We'll see how he pulls up after this race and we may head to Wellington for the Guineas then onto Christchurch for the 2000 Guineas.

"This win gives me local bragging rights and this really has been a team effort to get this colt spot on for this race and I must thank all my staff for the hard work they've put in."

The 1400m sprint distance made it difficult for runners beyond midfield to be a realistic winning chance particularly with such a well-balanced athlete at Jimmy Choux ideally positioned from barrier two sitting behind the leaders.

Icepin covered a stack of extra ground to finish second while Cellarmaster, We Can Say It Now and He's Remarkable lost few admirers with solid finishing efforts.

Cellarmaster was beaten by the draw forced to improve wider out on the track when the pace quickened and he made ground impressively down the middle of the course.

We Can Say It Now recovered from an early check to rush home behind the leaders at the finish in tight racing quarters.

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Hastings has been a happy hunting ground for 5-year-old mare Split Endz who out sprinted her rivals to score an impressive victory in the hands of Darryl Bradley.

Split Endz was set rushed forward by Bradley to pounce on the leaders with 600m remaining and cleared out at the finish to win by 1 lengths over Zorro's Star. A further length away third was Rockburn.

Owner-trainer Rachel Frost was well-satisfied.

"That's not the riding tactics that would normally happen but I'm very happy with the winning result and obviously Darryl knew what he was doing," said Frost.

"We've had a lot of leg trouble with this mare but she's a pretty capable performer when she's on her game."

The 5-year-old has a good record at Hastings scoring one win and three minor placings from four starts.