Cruising Speed picks up the pace with impressive win at Doomben

SAVABEEL filly Cruising Speed is rewarding connections for their patient approach and according to co-trainer Chris Meagher, the best is yet to come.

James Orman powers home on Cruising Speed at Doomben on Saturday. Picture: Mark Cranitch

SAVABEEL filly Cruising Speed is rewarding connections for their patient approach and according to co-trainer Chris Meagher, the best is yet to come.

Cruising Speed made it three wins in five starts when producing a powerful finish to land the Class 3 Plate at Doomben on Saturday.

She counts Emancipation as her third dam and was an $80,000 purchase out of New Zealand for Grant Morgan’s On-Track Thoroughbreds.

“I thought we stole her at the time and the pedigree has improved further since,” Morgan said. “Stratum Star is in the family and he’s won a Group 1 this season, so she’s turned out to be a good buy.”

Morgan had an ecstatic team of owners on hand on Saturday and they look likely to enjoy plenty more fun yet.

“I’m not sure whether she will have another run or two before we turn her out, but what she’s doing now is a bonus,” Meagher said. “Next time in she will be pretty exciting.”

Cruising Speed is yet to be tested beyond 1400m, but being a daughter of Savabeel and from a family that has produced Caulfield Cup winner Railings, there is plenty of scope for her to get over further.

“She still does a few things wrong, but most importantly, she’s getting it right at the end of her races,” Meagher said.

Meagher and his father John are restricted to a team of 25 horses at the moment, while brother Dan has quickly built to 50 in Singapore, where he had another winner on Friday night.

Former Victorian apprentice Rebecca Williams notched her first Brisbane winner when In The Genes landed an upset win in the Benchmark 75 2000m handicap.

Williams had previously ridden more than 130 winners in her home state.

Trainer Rex Lipp said there was a lot of merit in In The Genes’ previous defeat at Toowoomba.

“We have finally got him sound. I’ve been wanting to get him to this trip for a good while,” Lipp said.

John Zielke notched his 14th two-year-old winner of the season when Royal Tithe proved too classy for her rivals when stepped up to a mile on Saturday.

It followed Happy Event’s Eagle Farm win a week earlier and Spot The Diff superbly placed to grab another win at Rockhampton on Thursday.

That trio have kept Zielke in the headlines right throughout the season with their consistent Saturday performances.

They were probably upstaged as the stable’s No. 1 two-year-old seed by Dreams Aplenty, who measured up to Group 2 company during the winter.

Zielke doesn’t have plans for Royal Tithe to travel south and she will instead be given a break before embarking on another QTIS heist next season.

O’Dea light in Colinelle planning

GRAND plans are the furthest thing from trainer Steve O’Dea’s mind despite Colinelle graduating to Saturday company in style at Doomben on Saturday.

Colinelle was well tried in betting off the back of his cavalier first-up win at the Sunshine Coast and any fears about the wide gate were allayed inside the first 200m when Paul Hammersley had him in a lovely trailing position.

Madotti looked certain to overhaul Colinelle halfway up the straight but the more inexperienced runner dug deep.

Colinelle has plenty of upside, says trainer Steve O’Dea. Picture: Mark Cranitch

“I’m not getting carried away yet,” O’Dea said. “He had a light weight and ended up getting a good run from the gate. I will wait to see how he measures up against older horses before I set my sights too high. He has upside though. He’s still a bit new and hopefully we can pick up another couple of these type of races this time in.”

Collinelle is only lightly raced for a rising four-year-old.

“He had a wind problem as a two-year-old and ended up having a tie-back operation before he even raced,” O’Dea said. “He’s a big gangly fellow who has just needed time.”

Madotti ran her usual honest race, while Oberland ran into a dead end when he looked the likely winner. Colinelle was $4.80 out to $5 on track, but had been backed in from $8 when markets opened on Wednesday.

“He’s a lovely animal and he just switched off in the run,” Hammersley said.

Originally published as Cruising Speed picks up the pace with impressive win at Doomben