Gold Coast trainer Peter Balzen gave hope to all small yards when Luxbet $9 chance Punch On won Saturday’s $1m 2012 Magic Millions Guineas (3YO, 1400m) at the Gold Coast.
The local, who has just over a dozen horses in training, came good when his filly trumped up her second win in as many starts in the 2012 Magic Millions Guineas.
Punch On previously won the Group 3 Vo Rogue at Doomben and maintained that good form today in the 2012 Magic Millions Guineas.
The win also provided Gold Coast jockey Paul Hammersley with his biggest career victory.
Hammersley had Punch On sixth in the running as Rocket To Glory Luxbet $31 set a lightning speed in front.
Easy Running Luxbet $7 hope, settled just ahead of Punch On and it was that horse Hammersley followed into the race.
Easy Running pounced on the leaders at the 100m mark, but Punch On claimed the Desleigh Forster-trained galloper on the line to become the 2012 Magic Millions Guineas winner.
“We are going to call her (Punch On) the million-dollar baby now,” Balzen smiled.
“He (Hammersley) rode her a treat and I am very pleased with both horse and rider.
“I thought if we had the luck we’d win but you can never guarantee that but after they went 100 yards, I was pretty happy.”
The 2012 Magic Millions Guineas late entry Happy Hussy Luxbet $6 raced midfield and finished off well to grab third.
The Chris Waller-trained Subarc Luxbet $8 as well as Biggles Luxbet $9 and Playtime Luxbet $6 all ran on well without threatening to win.
The Luxbet $4.40 favourite Safusa raced behind the leaders and loomed at the home turn but failed to run out the 1400-metre.
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| Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | PUNCH ON | Peter Balzen | Paul Hammersley | 6 | 56kg | $9 | |
| 2 | 5 | EASY RUNNING | Desleigh Forster | Damian Browne | 0.1L | 3 | 57kg | $7 |
| 3 | 14 | HAPPY HUSSY | David Payne | Corey Brown | 1.4L | 10 | 55kg | $6 |
| 4 | 9 | SUBARC | Chris Waller | Nash Rawiller | 1.5L | 5 | 57kg | $8 |
| 5 | 1 | BIGGLES | Noel J Doyle | Timothy Bell (a) | 1.6L | 11 | 57.5kg | $11 |
| 6 | 13 | PLAYTIME | Todd Austin | Tommy Berry | 2.4L | 2 | 55kg | $9 |
| 7 | 4 | DOUBLE IMPACT | Jackie Crompton | Eddie Wilkinson | 2.5L | 16 | 57kg | $81 |
| 8 | 3 | NOISY OCEAN | Bryan Guy | Craig Williams | 3.5L | 15 | 57kg | $15 |
| 9 | 15 | LUCKY MORNA | Kelso Wood | Chris Munce | 3.7L | 8 | 55kg | $6 |
| 10 | 11 | SHOW A PRINCE | Liam Birchley | Robert Thompson | 4L | 13 | 57kg | $31 |
| 11 | 8 | SAFUSA | David Pfieffer | Jay Ford | 6L | 1 | 57kg | $4.40F |
| 12 | 6 | AQUATORIAL | Ron Macrae | Brad Stewart | 7.3L | 14 | 57kg | $41 |
| 13 | 16 | MERRYANNA | Maryann Thexton | Jason Taylor | 8.1L | 4 | 55kg | $51 |
| 14 | 2 | ROCKET TO GLORY | John Manzelmann | Chris Whiteley | 8.9L | 9 | 57kg | $31 |
| 15 | 10 | PEPPER JET | Liam Birchley | Michael Rodd | 9.9L | 7 | 57kg | $61 |
| 16 | 7 | COLLECTOR | Robert Bradshaw | Kelvin Wharton | 16.4L | 12 | 57kg | $101 |
| 20e | ANGEL OF MERCY | Gerald Ryan | scr | 0 | ||||
| 21e | C’EST LORRAINE | Lindsay Gough | scr | 0 | ||||
| 19e | STATE OF WEALTH | Brian Smith | scr | 0 | ||||
| 17e | PEPPERED BLACK | Lawrie Mayfield-Smith | scr | 0 | ||||
| 18e | SPINHRO | Norm Stephens | scr | 0 |
