The decision to bypass a trial opportunity with I’m All In proved on the money when the youngster successfully resumed on his home course.
The well-bred son of Zoustar hadn’t raced since February, but he was produced in tip-top order by Cambridge trainer Stephen Marsh to prove too good for his rivals on the synthetic track in the Pryde’s Easifeed 2YO (970m).
“We’ve always liked him and he’d had a spell and we were going to trial him at Cambridge on Monday,” Marsh said.
“There was this 970m race and he’d had a jump-out a week ago and gone really well.
“I was very happy with him so thought let’s not got to the trials and go straight to the races. It was worth $17,000 and rather than trial over 950m we might as well race over 970m and it worked out really well.”
It proved a wise call and I’m All In tucked in behind the pace for rider Warren Kennedy before angling off the fence before the turn.
He lengthened stride well in the run home to account for debut runners Top Dollar and Brazen Affair.
“He really knuckled down that last bit and I thought it was a really good effort to get over the top of those other two,” Marsh said.
I’m All In had finished third, albeit a distant one, when third on debut behind subsequent stakes performers Alabama Lass and Renovations, and was spelled after an unplaced run at Matamata where he missed the jump.
Marsh is undecided about the immediate future for I’m All In and will monitor the youngster’s progress in the coming days.
“I’ll see how he does in the next week or so, we’re probably running out options for him getting deep into May,” Marsh said.
“He may have a little break and then potentially look at some three-year-old races in the early spring.”
The two-year-old is raced by breeders Cambridge Stud and continued their run of success following Bella Waters’ victory in the Listed Rotorua Cup (2200m) last weekend.
I’m All In is a son of the I Am Invincible mare Fuld’s Bet, a talented performer who won on four occasions, including the Listed WATC Gimcrack Stakes (1100m) as a two-year-old.
She is a half-sister to the RL Inglis Nursery winner Irish Bet and the multiple winner and Gr.1 Queensland Derby (2400m) runner-up Rockstar Rebel.
Fuld’s Bet also has a yearling daughter of Hello Youmzain and produced a colt by Sword Of State last season and is back in foal to the Group One-winning son of Snitzel.