SUPERSTAR Tasmanian pacer Ignatius continued on his winning way in Sydney last Saturday night with another effortless victory, this time in an M0 pace over 1609 metres against quality opposition.
The James Rattray-trained three-year-old remains unbeaten from 11 starts this season as he heads towards the Breeders Crown series in Victoria.
If the gelded son of Roll with Joe can emerge from that series with his unbeaten record intact, few would argue that he will own the Australian three-year-old of the year title.
In this latest assignment, Ignatius showed good early speed to lead from gate seven and once in front Rattray ensured a modest first half before allowing his stable star to sprint home the last 800 metres in a slick 54.8 to score untouched by 10 metres from The Golden Cross with The Major Rocket almost three metres astern.
The Tasmanian connections of Ignatius pocketed the prize money three starts back when he blitzed his rivals in the Group 1 NSW Breeders Challenge final at Menangle on July 1 and he followed up with another easy win in a Breeders Crown heat at the same venue just over two weeks later.
Rattray will take the gelding to Melbourne next week to prepare for his Breeders Crown semi-final and if successful he will line up in the $200,000 Group 1 final at Tabcorp Park Melton on Friday fortnight.
Ignatius’ career record stands at 16 wins and a second from 17 starts for $269,934 in stakes.
Peter Staples