NZB Ready To Run Sale topper shines in Oxlade Stakes
After Megastar Heart’s victory in Saturday’s Oxlade Stakes at Eagle Farm, Annabel Neasham labelled him as one of the nicest two-year-olds she’s had and quipped her next task would be to convince the colt’s Hong Kong-based owner, Pato Leung, to keep the two-year-old in Australia for a little longer.
“He’s a beautiful colt, and I just have to persuade his owner to keep him in Australia for another year before whisking him off to Hong Kong,” Neasham said.
The colt broke his maiden at Randwick-Kensington in May, before running a solid eighth in the BRC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) two weeks ago.
The drop back in class clearly paid dividends for the youngster’s connections as he produced an impressive display to beat Embassy (I Am Invincible) by 0.2 lengths under James McDonald. The winner’s stablemate Depth Of Character (Deep Field) finished a further 2.2 lengths away in third.
Neasham said she had concerns when Megastar Heart was drawn in barrier six, but was pleased to see him overcome any hazards in running.
“It was always going to be tricky from that draw and we didn’t necessarily want to lead because he was up on the speed last start,” she said.
“He’s still quite green, and we thought there’d be something to follow up. We left it up to James and he felt there was not enough speed to go back so he conceded to being three-wide if he had to be and still managed to look like he’d tuck in and get a bit of cover.
“I think he’s a really nice colt and he’ll be better again next year. He’s just very natural. I’ll be interested to see what James says because he’s obviously ridden a lot of the nice ones.
“I’d say this is well up there with one of the nicest two-year-olds I’ve had.”
Progeny of Star Turn have done well in Hong Kong, with the stallion having had seven winners from ten starters and they are headed by Group 3 scorer Cordyceps Six.