WYONG STAR “SWEET” WITH PUNTERS

MATCHA Latte comes from a slightly bitter matcha flavour mixed with coconut milk to create a perfectly creamy flavour balance.

And the equine Matcha Latte also was sweet with punters at Newcastle today when he landed the fifth Provincial-Midway Championships Qualifier (1400m).

So much so that he is now outright favorite for the $1m Final (1400m) at Royal Randwick on April 12.

With new rider Ash Morgan aboard, the talented five-year-old went to the post a solidly backed $2.35 favorite, and after taking up the running soon after the start, was never seriously threatened.

He defeated Art Volant ($5) and a late-finishing Kind Words ($7.50); the first two becoming the ninth and 10th horses into the field for the April 12 feature.

An $8 joint favorite prior to the race, TAB.com.au wasted no time cutting Matcha Latte’s odds to $4.50, ahead of Hawkesbury qualifier, Kembla Grange trainer Kerry Parker’s Well Timed ($6).

Wyong trainer Sara Ryan, understandably delighted to get Matcha Latte back into the winning list, afterwards said she wasn’t sure he would have another start before the Final.

“Probably I will trial him,” she said.

“I’ve always loved this horse. That’s why I spent 15 months rehabbing him when it looked as though his racing career was over after a serious tendon injury.”

Ryan got Matcha Latte back to the track after 77 weeks and went within a whisker of pulling off a training miracle.

He made the running and was narrowly beaten by Victorian Here To Shock in the Group 3 Cameron Handicap (1500m) at Newcastle last September.

Matcha Latte was cursed again when he bled in a Randwick trial after his Cameron resumption, and again needed time on the sidelines.

He returned with a bold third to Welcometobarbados and Lord Of Biscay in an earlier Newcastle Qualifier (1400m) on March 1, and was a tougher proposition today with that run under his belt.

“I had to give him a nudge from the inside barrier to take up the running,” winning rider Morgan said.

“But I don’t think he has to lead in his races.”

Ryan of course is no stranger to winning a Royal Randwick feature. She carried off the $3m Big Dance (1600m) with Attractable in November, 2023.

. Ryan was one of four provincial trainers to succeed at the Newcastle meeting.

Newcastle’s David Atkins’ promising youngster Buffalo ($1.85 favorite) made hard work of the 2YO Maiden Plate (1200m), then had to survive a protest lodged on behalf of runner-up Hay Street ($8.50), Hawkesbury’s Steve O’Halloran clinched an overdue victory with Webejamin ($3.60) in the Class 1/Maiden Plate (1850m), and Kembla Grange’s Mitch Beer scored with ex-Godolphin gelding Presides ($3.30), who clambered back from what appeared certain defeat to edge out Matcha Latte’s stablemate Koios ($1.45 favorite) in the Provincial Class 1 Handicap (1200m).

. The updated PMC Final market is:

$4.50 Matcha Latte

6 Well Timed

8 Lord Of Biscay, Welcometobarbados

11 Bojangles, Money Team, Rapt

15 Art Volant, Flying Bandit, Mahogany Girl, Mogul Monarch, Wooloowin

Story John Curtis, March 20, 2025