KW's first attempt at a middle distance was very encouraging. He jumped well and, as per instructions, top jockey Corey Brown had him third on the fence on settling. He had no trouble keeping with them until the final 200m when he tired a bit. If you look closely he blundered and picked himself up at the 200m pole. Corey said he was lucky not to have fallen.
An analysis of his sectionals shows that his 600-400 and 400-200 sectionals were the best of any runner but he slowed up in the last 200m. This was probably a combination of feeling the pinch, possibly not being so willing to stretch out after nearly falling and the fact that Corey eased him down near the post when any improvement on third was not possible.
Corey was very pleased with the run and said it was nearly impossible to have gained ground in the straight in the heavy conditions. The track was downgraded to a Heavy 10 just before the race and the meeting was abandoned after the race so all in all it was another game effort from Mr. Big on an otherwise miserable Sydney winter's day.
It was great to see such a large contingent of owners there, including Frank from Townsville, who was passing through Sydney and really appreciated the effort KW put in.
