After highly fancied Task Force did not win as expected in the first of two juvenile races on Saturday, going down in Division 1, the smile returned to the face of trainer Anthony Nunes when Cash Is King romped home in Division 2 over 4 furlongs (800m).
Installed as the 1-9 favourite, Task Force (Casual Trick – Eighteen Karat) finished third behind Another Prosecutor and K D Rocket in 47.4, but Cash Is King (Liquidity – Abicadabby) restored stable confidence with a 1 ¼-length win in a time 48.3.
Cash Is King, ridden by Linton Steadman, broke with the field and blazed the trail with Another Commander (Javaniel Patterson) and Another Affair (Robert Halledeen) in the early exchanges.
After crossing the dummy rails, Cash Is King started to find his full stride, pulling away from rivals to win without any fuss. Money Monster (Bebeto Harvey) was second and Another Commander third.
“It is his first time out and he ran ok. The time of 48.3 is nothing spectacular to write home about as there was a headwind, but they (horses) are babies and you are hoping that they will improve as they go along.
“He (Cash Is King) still has improvement to make as he is a little bit green and immature and so the important thing is that he got the win. Linton (Steadman) worked him in the mornings and he was even more confident than I was as he gave him more chance of winning.
“I thought that after the first filly (Task Force) had lost that maybe it wasn’t going to be his day either but Linton stayed confident and it is always important that the man in his back stays confident,” Nunes said.
Cash Is King is owned by Oakridge Farms.
