Ranting (NZ) (Zoustar) has made a return to the winner’s enclosure at Caulfield after undergoing two operations.
A wind operation coupled with a gelding operation saw Ranting take out the Ian Miller Handicap (1100m) on Saturday.
The victory was Ranting’s second in 17 starts with his sole win previously coming in the Gr.3 Blue Sapphire Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield 18 months ago.
The Blue Sapphire was a three-horse race with Ranting defeating Hanseatic (Street Boss) and Anders (Not A Single Doubt) with both those colts retired to stud the following autumn.
The gelding operation has resulted in leaner looking galloper with Ranting being around 40kg lighter than when he was a colt.
Ridden by Michael Dee, Ranting ($20) scored a three-quarter length victory from Ocean Beyond (NZ) (Ocean Park) ($13) with Starry Legend (Zoustar) ($4.80) the same margin off third.
Dom Sutton, representing the Leon and Troy Corstens stable, said nothing special was planned for Ranting with the stable just pleased to see the now gelding back winning again.
“He had a wind operation and the ultimate gear change (gelding) so it was really good to see him back in the winner’s circle today,” Sutton said.
“He was always a horse that made a slight noise in his work, and he’s come back really clean in his wind, so it’s obviously done the job.
“He was gutsy today as he ended up being three wide, with no cover, not a place we thought we’d be in after drawing barrier three, but it was probably good he had something out in front to chase down.”
Dee said the operations had given the Gerry Harvey-bred Ranting a new lease of life saying it had put the spark back into him.
“I didn’t get the best of luck today, but he won like the horse he used to be, Dee said.
“I always had it in the back of my mind that the leading couple felt like they went quite quick, and we were closing in on them quickly and in the end, we won quite comfortably.”
