Three-year-old Well Sprung has stamped his claims as one to watch through the 2015 Spring Racing Carnival; producing an impressive final straight sprint to comfortably take out the Listed McKenzie Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley.

Jumping from the gates well, jockey Michael Walker immediately led the Star Witness colt to the fore of the field of ten; setting a reasonably quick tempo alongside the likes of Danuki and Group 1 performer Odyssey Moon away from the barriers and approaching the bend.

Hugging the rails upon rounding onto the final straight, Well Sprung opened a good gap on his closest rivals before mustering a particularly impressive turn of foot; charging clear to take post a black type win in only his second competitive start.

Michael Walker delivered a great performance aboard Well Sprung for success in the 2015 McKenzie Stakes and revealed he thinks races like the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m) may come just a little too early for the horse, despite this afternoon’s effort.

“He’s an exciting horse,” Walker said after the McKenzie Stakes

“He’ll be better in the autumn and I just reckon the Guineas and races like that are going to be a bit too early for him. He’s got the ability but mentally he’s not quite there yet.

“He laid off the fence early in the straight.

“I galloped him here on Monday morning and he gave me a good feel, but I did say I reckon he’s an autumn horse.

“I thought he ran well today, he actually surprised me with what he did. He’s a nice horse on the up.

“I was going to be positive, he was first-up but I actually did it really easy and it was a matter of sprinting home better than the rest.

“Even though he was green I reckon he had a couple of lengths up his sleeve.

“He switches off really good and I think a mile is no problems.”

Co-trainer Leonie Proctor was thrilled with Well Sprung’s performance for success in the McKenzie Stakes, and is confident the colt will only improve off the effort.

“He’s a pretty nice horse in the making and still six months away, so positive,” Proctor said.

“He’s a colt, he’s a lad but he keeps his head together and is pretty easy.

“He gets through a heavy track but obviously on top of the ground he’s far better.”

Punters who backed Well Sprung to win the 2015 McKenzie Stakes at Ladbrokes.com.au have been paid out on generous $21 odds for success!

2015 McKenzie Stakes Results

Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Starting Price
1	11	WELL SPRUNG	Lyn Tolson & Leonie Proctor	Michael Walker	–	5	55kg	$21
2	5	DANUKI	Clinton McDonald	Mark Zahra	1.25L	8	55kg	$6.50
3	1	ODYSSEY MOON	Rodney Northam	Damien Oliver	2.5L	10	56.5kg	$7
4	4	EL GRECO	Peter G Moody	Vlad Duric	2.7L	4	55kg	$3F
5	12	BOSTON LIGHT	Bryce Heys	Craig Williams	3.95L	1	55kg	$8.50
6	9	VICIOUS	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Dwayne Dunn	4.05L	7	55kg	$14
7	3	MANHATTAN BLUES	Tony McEvoy	James Winks	4.15L	3	55kg	$10
8	2	GOLD BUSKER	Logan McGill	Stephen Baster	5.9L	2	56.5kg	$10
9	10	TRENCH FIGHTER	Robbie Laing	Craig Newitt	8.4L	9	55kg	$61
10	6	DESTINY’S REWARD	Brian Gentle	Darren Gauci	8.6L	6	55kg	$13