The Roda Robot show goes on
Fit and well, Jason Ong’s last-start winner will compete for the fourth time in 21 days
In what could possibly be a record of sorts on the local racing circuit, Roda Robot will be racing for the fourth time in 21 days on Sunday.
The four-year-old New Zealand-bred is running in Race 5 – the $50,000 Class 4 event over the gruelling 2,000m on turf.
But with his promotion – after picking up seven points, to 50, for winning in Class 5 over 1,600m on turf last Sunday – Roda Robot is handicapped at just 50.5kg in the 11-horse field. It is only ½kg more than the bottom weight, Red Dragon.
But Roda Robot will probably carry 1kg more on Sunday as jockey Bruno Queiroz rides at 51.5kg.
The son of Mongolian Khan had two other outings in August – for a fourth over 1,200m on Aug 6 and a second over 1,400m on Aug 13.
It looks daunting for a horse to compete four times in three weeks, but trainer Jason Ong is throwing the dice to assess where his bay gelding stands over the longer trip.
After all, Roda Robot pulled up well after last Sunday’s runaway three-length victory with Manoel Nunes astride. The leading jockey cannot make the 50.5kg handicap. He will be riding the Michael Clements-trained Fighter (58kg).
Ong said Roda Robot is a strong horse and has always been improving with racing.
He had intended to give his charge a breather but, after assessing Roda Robot on Monday, he decided to enter him in the Class 4 race over 2,000m because of the luxurious handicap.
“I was speaking to Nunes about it, after he won pretty impressively over 1,600m, and he said the horse seems like he’s looking for further distance,” said Ong.
“This sort of 2,000m race doesn’t come often, so I thought I would just enter him and monitor him this week.
“If I’m not happy with him, I won’t run him. But he’s working really well, he’s eating well, holding his weight and I like the way he pulled up. So, I thought I would give him a shot over 2,000m and see what happens.
“I think, with the light weight over 2,000m, we always have that slight advantage. But, of course, this is his first time in Class 4, which is a rise in class.
“That’s questionable, but he’s a horse in the making and is full of confidence in himself now, I’ll just let him run and go from there.”
Ong saddled his fourth 2023 treble last Sunday to perch on top of the trainers’ premiership table with 36 winners.
But it appears Clements (34 winners) and Tim Fitzsimmons (32) have stronger teams on Sunday and could topple him.
But Ong is not too worried about who is “on top and things like that”.
“I just go out and try my best every week and, hopefully, the horses do well. The stable is gaining a lot of momentum and my horses are all fit and well,” he said.
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