This potential sire of the future has been beautifully bred – his father is the spectacular Snitzel, himself a Redoute’s Choice son.
And the way Morrissy blew his rivals off the track at the weekend would indicate he has the capacity to become a sire himself judging by the success his father, rising 18 years, is still having.
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Snitzel’s first season at stud in 2009 saw him covering mares for $22,000. Last season it was $220,000 and although that has been lowered to $165,000 this season it is an indication of where his impeccable bloodlines can take you.
It did not take Morrissy long to stamp his mark on his latest win, with superstar jockey Craig Williams in the saddle.
The pair used the horse’s gate speed to quickly push to the front of the 10-horse field and once he dominated the pace it was simply going to be a matter of by how much at the finish.
More than two lengths, as it turned out, with Williams nursing Morrissy past the post in a canter and slowing down while horses left spreadeagled in his wake battled for the minor placings.
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It was an emphatic win for Williams, too, completing a doubler and locking up his ninth metropolitan jockeys championship with 70 wins, but stewards later slapped him with a 10-meeting suspension for the ride after he pleaded guilty to careless riding, shifting inwards when insufficiently clear of Travimyfriend, which had to be steadied at the 300m mark and finished at the tail of the field.
Williams started his suspension immediately and will be free to return at Cranbourne on Wednesday, August 5.
Stable spokesman Dom Sutton agreed once the horse hit the front it “worked out perfectly for him today”.
Sutton said at his last start, coming off a win at Caulfield over 1440m, the horse has simply been caught too far back in the running and in the conditions wasn’t able to make up the ground.
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“So we decided we were going to be really positive from the wide barrier today and Craig gave him an absolute picture of a ride,” Sutton said.
“I’m not too sure what we do with him next, I’ll leave that up to Leon and Troy – but he’s certainly the type of horse you could look to the springtime with.
“And Troy has the new property outside Benalla so he can always go up there for a freshen up.”
Morrissy was the Corstens’ only runner on the day, mimicking their success at Swan Hill on Friday when they only took maiden Rip City north to the Murray.
And while it has been a long time coming, at its 16th start the four-year-old gelding finally won a race.
And it had a ding-dong battle to pull it off, chased all the way down the Swan Hill straight by 40/1 bolter My Girl Trudy and only a final lunge on the line handed him the race – by a short half head.
Corstens stable conquer back-to-back weekend wins
Helped in no small part by Ethan Brown’s tactical ride, parking himself midfield in the early stages of the $31,500 bet365 Maiden Plate over 1200m.
With jockeys in the spotlight Friday was an even bigger day for jockey Jye McNeil.
In a sizzling purple patch he took out races three, four and five for a stunning triple – the only thing to elude him was winning the $90,000 Mildura Cup.
His first winner was Legend of Zorro for Andrew Noblet in the $31,500 TAC Plate over 1600m; then the $31,500 The Big Screen Company over 1600m on the Maher/Eustace Category Five and finally the Spoons Riverside BM58 over 1600m on Matt Cumani’s Jenkins.
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