Plan executed to perfection

Ideal placement by trainers Patrick and Michelle Payne resulted in Hard To Cross adding to his tidy record when successful at Moonee Valley.

They targeted the open handicap over 1523 metres and, with apprentice Rose Hammond’s claim, the son of All Too Hard carried a luxurious 51kg and a hefty drop of 7kg from his previous third placing at Flemington.

Our homebred Hard To Cross lobbed along in third spot and rounded off strongly in the run home to put away his rivals.

“The first two went along pretty quickly and my bloke relaxed,” Hammond said.

“I just had to give him every opportunity, and he hit the line strongly.”

Hard To Cross has now won on seven occasions with his career earnings closing in on A$500,000 after he was purchased by Malua Bloodstock for A$140,000 at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Sale where he was offered on our behalf by Maluka Thoroughbreds.

He is out of the Commands mare Egyptian Cross, a half-sister to dual Group 3 winner Egyptian Symbol, who is a daughter of the G1 Railway Handicap winner Egyptian Ra.

Egyptian Cross is the dam of the Pierata four-year-old Red Sea, who has carried our colours to victory and finished runner-up in the G1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes, and won a Taupo trial recently ahead of resuming.

We also have an unraced Almanzor three-year-old named Palazzo out of the mare, who is in foal to Chaldean, and his brother sold for $100,000 to Chinese interests at Karaka earlier this year.

‍