$81 outsider Badiss smashes rivals by eight lengths at Gawler

An $81 outsider who was beaten by 37 lengths last start has produced an astonishing form turnaround at Gawler on Saturday.

Justin Potter steers Badiss to a dominant win at Gawler. Picture: Makoto Kaneko

Roughie Badiss astonished racegoers at Gawler on Saturday, the $81 chance with TAB scoring an eight-length win under a bold frontrunning steer from Justin Potter.

Taking up the lead early in the race, Potter urged the gelding along to slowly extend his margin, before opening an unassailable lead turning for home that continued to grow incessantly, as his rivals battled it out for the minor placings in another postcode.

Trainer Darren Magro gave Potter his pre-race instructions, and was only too happy to watch on as the hoop produced a stunning boilover in race 7 – a Benchmark 62 over 2100m.

“I was pretty happy when we got to the half-mile when he was still travelling,” Magro, who trains in partnership with Aimee Bush, said.

“I said to Justin ‘when you get to the 600m, if you’ve still got a horse travelling and you give him a little dig – we can be right in this race’.”

$61 pop, Badiss, won by this much! 👇 pic.twitter.com/ZGSxiRc0kE

— Racing.com (@Racing) July 6, 2024

It was Magro and Bush’s sixth start with the five-year-old gelding, who initially raced under Cindy Alderson in Victoria, before spending time with the Brenton Jones stable in Port Augusta.

Badiss was coming into Saturday’s race off back-to-back runs at Port Augusta where he finished fifth and ninth – beaten 37 lengths at his last-start after clipping heels and losing ground approaching the turn.

“If you look back to this horse’s form when he was in Melbourne, he would win these sort of races,” he said.

“He has sort of lost his way on the grass, he was still performing well enough on the dirt, I thought his last couple of runs the races were just too short for him.

“He’s a monster, and that’s what gets him beat, you can’t sit and sprint on him, if you hold him up and try and quicken he’ll just get out-sprinted. You’ve got to let him use his action.”

Originally published as $81 outsider Badiss smashes rivals by eight lengths at Gawler