It didn't take long for Haripour to make an impact on the Melbourne staff of Chris Waller.
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The former Darren Weir-trained galloper has been described by Waller's Melbourne assistant Jo Taylor as one of the happiest horses in the stable after his win in the Listed Golden Mile at Bendigo on Saturday.
The gelding was having his second start for Waller after the Irish-bred galloper made a steady rise through the ranks for Weir last year.
Providing jockey Michael Dee the second leg of a double, Haripour ($19) scored by 1-1/2 lengths from stablemate Mantastic ($12) with reigning Bendigo Cup winner Red Alto ($81) a nose away third after making good ground at the finish.
"He's a bit of a legend around the stable," Taylor said.
"He's one of the first horses you'll see when you walk in and he's always got a friendly face so the staff love being around him.
"He's easy going and does everything right."
A winner of the Ansett Classic (2400m) at Mornington last September, Taylor said Waller would study the program to look for a suitable race to raise the bar with the gelding.
"We've always thought he's a classy individual and last start over the 1400 metres we were very pleased with that effort," Taylor said.
"He took the necessary improvement today but we thought the mile was short of his optimum distance, but he certainly showed he has the class and that came out today."
Dee said the race couldn't have unfolded any better after finding a nice position.
"He travelled beautifully for me throughout and it was a matter of getting to the outside of horses and working into it when I wanted to," Dee said.
"He kept on building all the way up the straight and it was a very good effort today."
GOLD RUSH
Trainer Matt Laurie resisted the temptation of some early black-type with impressive winner Prince Of Sussex that he hopes will turn into a big pay day.
Prince Of Sussex blew away his rivals in Saturday's VOBIS Gold Rush with Laurie now setting his sights on the $1 million The Showdown at Caulfield on April 27, a race restricted to Super VOBIS qualified two-year-olds.
Ridden by Michael Dee, Prince Of Sussex ($8) scored by 2-1/4 lengths from The Executioner ($15) with the $4 favourite Groot a length away third.
Laurie said The Showdown was spoken about soon after the race was announced last year.
"Obviously with young horses it's a matter of whether they can keep it together," Laurie said.
"I think this horse is going to be high class in another six months so to see him perform like that is very exciting."
Asked whether he may switch his attention to Sydney, Laurie said he was committed to The Showdown.
"It's a million dollar race here in Melbourne, it seems the logical race," he said.
Laurie was deflated after the gelding was beaten at Pakenham on debut in January and decided to freshen him in preparation for The Showdown.
"We approached this race a little bit differently and that was awesome to watch," Laurie said.
"I don't think we've done anything different other than change our tactics.
"Not that we set out to lead with him first-up but it unfolded that way and he got super, super lost."
BENDIGO GUINEAS
Trainer Mick Price is looking ahead to the spring with Mystery Love after the filly remained unbeaten with a fighting victory .
After wins at Benalla and Sandown, Mystery Love added black-type to her record taking out Saturday's Listed Bendigo Guineas.
Ridden by Michael Walker, Mystery Love ($6) scored a half-length win over Scottish Rogue ($12) with Saccharo ($8) a nose away third.
Price said the filly had a delayed start to her racing career due to a near front fetlock issue that took time to overcome.
He praised the ownership group for their patience in giving the filly the necessary time.
Price said the Mystery Love would head straight to the paddock after admitting post-race to concerns whether the filly had been given enough work ahead of Saturday's race.
"I was walking on eggshells with her over the last week, just with has she had or has she not had enough," Price said.
"I thought if we drew off the track we wouldn't run her, but she drew barrier one so I thought we would.
"It was a great ride and she can go out now.
"She'll be a nice mare, she was always going to be a nice mare, so to win a black- type race now, it's fantastic."
Price's fitness concerns came flooding back passing the 200m mark when the chasing pack threw out the challenge.
"She's tough, she's sound but I thought she was gone a furlong out," he said.
"It was a great effort as over the last week to 10 days we've been looking for excuses but she was tough as today."
Jockey Michael Walker said with 54kg he wanted to make the other three-year-olds work hard while admitting he'd hit the front too early in the straight.
He also said the filly wasn't at home on the track.
"Being the second last race, it's chopped up now and she was ducking and diving in the ground," Walker said.
"But all-in-all I think she's got a very bright future."
GOLD BRACELET
Trainer Grahame Begg will consider a Group One assignment for stable newcomer Miss Siska after her first-up win.
Formerly trained by Tony McEvoy, Miss Siska joined Begg for her current campaign and first-up on Saturday in Bendigo Gold Bracelet raced to an impressive win.
Ridden by Jordan Childs, Miss Siska ($4) scored by 1-1/2 lengths from River Jewel ($8) with Twitchy Frank ($7.50) a half-head away third.
Begg said Miss Siska arrived at his Pinecliff stable in great order.
"It's great for her to come here today because it looked a light race with the set-weights and penalties," Begg said.
"Obviously she's come off running in a 2000-metre race at the end of the spring carnival but she's a lovely sound mare and fool proof in as far as training her goes.
"She came to us and was ready to go but had missed a lot of the autumn which might be a bit of a blessing in disguise."
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