She would love winners but Sarah Murray-Leslie has had to settle for a string of seconds after Phaeton finished second in the Q-Racing Function Centre Rating 57 Handicap (900m) in Queanbeyan on Monday.
The result follows the two second placings within a week by another of Murray-Leslie’s gallopers, Moment of Clarity at her home track in Bathurst.
It was a good result for the four-year-old chestnut gelding by Ideal Planet out of Keen Dame, who hadn’t raced for four months before the race.
With apprentice Ben Moffat in the saddle, Phaeton was an $8 chance, dropping from top weight due to his apprentice jockey’s claim down to 57 kilograms.
Normally a strong starter, Phaeton got it’s foot caught in it’s opponents stall and Moffat was unable to attract stewards attention before the jump.
As a result of his poor positioning, Phaeton jumped badly and was forced to ride from the back of the field.
Murray-Leslie said that Moffat rode Phaeton well, keeping him on the barrier and taking him from the back of the field to finish a close second behind And I Say.
“He had the run of his life to get the front, who knows what would have happened if he hadn’t got a poor jump,” she said.
Phaeton finished 0.8 of a length behind And I Say ridden by apprentice Joel Maconachie and the same distance ahead of the Carissa Lambert ridden Prince Igor.
It was Lambert who got Moment of Clarity its second place in the AUZform.com.au Ratings 67 Handicap (1410 metres) last week.
Murray-Leslie said she sent the horse to Queanbeyan because tracks in the region are too hard for the horse.
“He is a really big horse. You wouldn’t believe how big until you saw him,” the Bathurst trainer said.
“It puts a lot of pressure on his legs and he doesn’t run well on hard tracks.
“At the moment there aren’t any tracks around here that suit him.”
Purchased cheaply 12 months ago at a William Inglis auction at Newmarket, Murray-Leslie said she would try putting the horse up for auction again.
“He’s a good horse but we just can’t run him around here. You have to do what’s best for the horse.”
“If we get a decent price we will let him go otherwise we will bring him back and give him a break for a month.”
“He’s not the kind of horse that can back up week after week, he needs time to recover.”
The Bathurst trainer will be hoping to break her run of seconds in Mudgee on Sunday when Moment of Clarity runs in the $10,000 High Tech Concrete Rating 77 Handicap.