From his $500,000 purchase price at Karaka to his impressive jumpouts, there was a buzz surrounding Field Of Play in the lead-up to his raceday debut, and he lived up to the hype with a runaway victory in Saturday’s A$150,000 Drummond Golf Handicap (1200m) at Moonee Valley.
The talented two-year-old won three jumpouts at Cranbourne, the most recent of them on December 18, and was sent out as a $2.70 favourite for his first start on Saturday.
Field Of Play settled in third before rider Blake Shinn began to crank him up a long way from home. The favourite surged forward with more than 500m remaining and quickly poured on the pressure, powering past second favourite Neverenoughlego before the turn.
The result was in no doubt from there as Field Of Play raced clear, sailing to victory by three and a quarter lengths.
“He travelled beautifully and very correctly,” Shinn said. “He jumped nicely and I just allowed him to find his rhythm. I had the option to be more aggressive and try to take up a closer position, but I decided to just let him breathe in the trail behind the two leaders. He relaxed lovely.
“I was pleasantly surprised by how easily he rounded up the leader, who was impressive in his first start and looked to be the hardest to beat in this race.
“This horse treated his rivals with contempt in the end. That was a dominant display. Congratulations to his connections, they’ve got a smart horse here.”
Co-trainer Trent Busuttin indicated that the gelding is now likely to target the Gr.1 Blue Diamond (1200m) at Caulfield on February 22.
“He’s shown that sort of ability at home, so we were hoping he’d do that today,” Busuttin said. “Two-year-olds get beaten more than they win first-up, so we’re very happy to get the win.
“He was up and going early in the spring and we took him to those first two-year-old trials at Caulfield, and he got a bit lost that day. But Luke Currie gave him a big wrap and said wait for 1200m, so we tipped him out, gave him a little break and now here he is. When Blake pushed the button as early as he did today, he obviously had a lapful of horse.
“A race like the Blue Diamond is a natural target for him. We’re mindful of the fact that he’s not a 1000m type of two-year-old, so we’ll probably try to get him into the Blue Diamond Prelude (Gr.3, 1100m) in early February and go from there.”
Field Of Play is by three-time champion Hong Kong sire Deep Field and out of a winning I Am Invincible mare. He was offered by Kaha Nui Farm in Book 1 of Karaka 2024, where he was knocked down to Jamie Richards and Andrew Williams Bloodstock for $500,000.
“Mike Kneebone is a good friend of the family and has supported the stable for a long time,” Busuttin said. “He’s got a number of Hong Kong owners involved in the syndicate. The horse has ended up in our stable, and we’re obviously very happy about it.
“He’s probably not a real two-year-old type. He throws a bit to I Am Invincible, which is obviously a good thing.”
