Almanzor 4YO a top prospect

Touchdown continued the hot start he has made to his fledgling career with a runaway success on The Heath course at Caulfield.

The talented son of Almanzor owns the tidy record of two wins and a pair of runner-up finishes from four appearances for trainers Ben, Will and JD Hayes.

Touchdown’s latest success over was over 1600 metres and the stable expects the four-year-old to continue to progress.

“It was a nice, easy watch and gave a great kick, he got a little bit lost when he hit the front, but it was an easy win,” Ben Hayes said.

“He’s a horse we’ve always liked and he had a trip to Adelaide when the races were called off due to lightning, so he’s done a good job to come back and win impressively.

“We’ll see how he pulls up, there’s a lot of improvement left in him and if he does tick all the boxes we’ll push on through the grades and win as many races as we can.”

Touchdown cruised along in fourth spot and peeled wide before the turn and then lengthened stride to romp home by three and a-quarter lengths.

“It was pretty painless, he jumped well and had an uninterrupted run,” rider Luke Nolen said.

“He had a bit of a think about things after he had put them away easily. He’s got good tactical speed and relaxes so he ticks the boxes.”

Touchdown failed to meet his A$100,000 reserve when offered at the Inglis Australian Yearling Sale and was subsequently purchased by clients of Lindsay Park after he won a trial at Taupo 12 months ago from Glenn Old’s stable.

He is a half-brother to the G3 Rough Habit late winner Shocking Luck with their dam Shamardal Luck from the family of the G1 Australian Cup winner Starstruck.

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