The ownership experience

Werd waitintg to pounce (pic D.Wyer)

Werd has finally cracked the stakes winner title after holding off Power Princess in the Listed WATC Stakes (1100m) on the weekend in the slick time of 1.03.72.

He jumped in his usual brilliant style, but Campbell McCallum grabbed hold and let the speedy Latoria take up the running with Noname City pressuring to her outside.

Those two set a furious pace and on the corner, Werd was off the bit trying to keep up. In the straight, his turn of foot kicked in and he hit the front while Power Princess and All Friared Up attempted to run him down.

Without having led and done all of the work, Werd had enough in the tank to hold off the challengers, something he has found it difficult to do in this class of event.

We had to endure the cruelest of delays while the second palcegetter, Paul Harvey on Power Princess, fired in an protest based on interference alleged to have happened at the 900m mark. It was a harrowing time for connections who had already waited an eternity for their first taste of black type success.

The protest was dismissed, much to all of our delight.

Having added another dimension to his racing arsenal, Werd will now go to the 1200m Listed Miss Andretti Stakes on March 31 at Ascot.