There was no kidding around for Kid Montana in the Select Autoglass North West Three-Year-Old Classic at the Tamworth harness racing meeting on Friday night.
“He showed he is going to be alright,” reinsman Chris Shepherdson said after the win.
“Having a good temperament is the main thing and he got the right run on the night – he is the perfect horse to drive.”
Kid Montana commenced off the second line, from the eight barrier, to settle three back on the outside running line while Mary Todd Shannon (Anthony Varga) led the field.
“I was three back on the outside running line but after Groovy Miss Annie (Julie Weidemann) made a move I got pushed to four back,” Shepherdson said.
“Mitch (Faulkner) was on my back with Cronin and I knew he would want to make a move at the bell so we got going a little bit earlier than we wanted.”
Shepherdson pulled Kid Montana three wide just before the bell sounded to place in a solid run against his opposition.
“I locked wheels up the back which held him (Kid Montana) up a little bit but once I pulled the ear plugs he put a little bit of a break on the (field),” he said.
“He needed the break on the field as he started to stop and wait for them towards the end”
Kid Montana went on for a 5.1m win over race favourite Shezlikaterror (Brad Elder).
Faulkner, who was looking for three wins on the trot with Cronin, had to be content with third beaten a short half head after being held up in running.
Kid Montana was notching up his second career win in taking out the feature and is trained at Narrabri by Peter Shepherdson.
“He (Kid Montana) is a relaxed horse in a race but I knew that after the run he had had in the race that he would have a nice finish,” he said.
Kid Montana won in his first start for the Narrabri stables at Armidale back in March which was also the Rock N Roll Heaven colts racing debut.
“We didn’t get him long before his first start and we weren’t sure what he would be like but he went beyond what we thought he would do at Armidale,” Shepherdson said, with Kid Montana on that occasion having a 32.3m win over the field.
“Hopefully we will win a few more races with him,” added Chris Shepherdson.
“We don’t normally win feature races but it definitely feels nice to win a feature race”.
“He is the horse with the best characteristics of not doing much wrong but we thought he would have gone well if he got a bit of luck and that happened.”
“It is a family effort with the horses and Tadd helps us out a lot as well and it was good for Gran to be here tonight to see us win a feature race.”
By Julie Maughan