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Champion trainer Chris Waller took the wraps off a promising import when Skyman swamped his rivals to score at Saturday’s Caulfield meeting.
Waller’s clients bought Skyman after the gelding won a race at Sandown in the UK last August and ran third in a handicap at Nottingham in October last year.
Waller said Skyman joined him last December after racing in the care of the Roger Charlton stable.
He said he has adopted a patient approach with Skyman but was still unsure how the five-year-old would perform in the Neds Handicap (1600m).
“He’s been with us since December and we’ve taken our time with him,” Waller said.
“We had confidence that he’d run well but you can never tell how they’ll adapt. Some of these European horses take their time to adapt to our racing and others get straight into it.”
Punters were also unsure of what Skyman would produce at Benchmark 78 level, allowing him to start at $26. The impressive first-up winner Tavidance started as a $1.85 favourite.
Tavidance moved into contention at the 200m but Skyman quickly swept by the favourite under Damien Thornton’s riding to score a dominant 2¼ length win over the $61 chance Emperor Selassie and Battle Torque ($10).
Waller said the stable would continue to test Skyman in harder races during his maiden Australian campaign.
“He’s the right type of horse to come through the back door to better races,” Waller said.
“We’ll just keep placing him through the grades.”
– Brad Waters, Racenet