Najem Suhail (Starspangledbanner) followed up on his first Australian succcess over 1200m at Sale last month by winning RJ Sanderson & Associates BM78 Handicap over 1000m at Pakenham on Saturday. In between these wins he was beaten into second in a 1100m handicap at Flemington.
Assistant trainer Sandra McKenzie-Wood noted: “Robbie (Griffiths) and Mat (de Kock) left us in charge today, they’re at an undisclosed location but it is his (Matt) bucks party so good luck to him and he’ll be over the moon with this, he loves this big boy.
“Najem Suhail didn’t race for quite some time, he had that huge gap between runs of about two and a half years and then came here as a five-year-old. It took him a while to settle in, he was actually a very naughty boy the first two races but he’s really settled now, chilled, he’s got in the rhythm of things and an awesome big, powerful horse. He’s pretty good to deal with, he’s a big powerful stallion, he’s an exciting prospect for the stable, today he did that fairly easily.
Winning jockey Blake Shinn said: “You know that saying let fast horses be fast, he didn’t get the start right at all, he was a little bit slow and jumped right. I didn’t rush him, I just allowed him to find his rhythm and he just built like a steam train, he’s a very fast horse and it was sustained speed the whole way. When I asked him for an effort the second horse challenged and he responded like a good horse.
“I think one thousand is probably, or 1100 his pet distance, especially if he breaks well as he can just hit the ground and get running the first 100 (metres) he can get them off the bridle and as you see today he had them chasing a long way out and then kicked again, so that’s his best asset. I think he can win a good race this horse on today’s performance, he’s lightly-raced, he’s come from South Africa with a good record and I’m just grateful for the opportunity.”
Najem Suhail races in partnership for M,ike de Kock and a sizeable group of young Dubai-based owners assembled by Mohammad Mardood for the Blue Stables Syndicate. -Racing and Sports.
