ROCKHAMPTON sprinter Marway scored one of the most dominant Wagga Town Plate victories in recent history with a four-length romp in the feature sprint on Thursday.
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Irish apprentice Tommy Sherry combined with his boss Mark Newnham to take out the $200,000 Iron Jack Wagga Town Plate (1200m) with the former Queensland flyer.
Marway ($2.90) snuck away from the field early in the home straight then exploded away from his rivals over the final 200 metres to gap the field by four lengths in near track record time of 1:08.48.
Canberra top weight Handle The Truth ($10) worked home from back in the field for second place, with Dubbo visitor Jailbreak ($26) a further three quarters of a length back in third.
Marway's connections travelled all the way from Rockhampton to be trackside at Wagga and watch the demolition.
"That was bloody terrific," breeder and owner Greg Sturgiss said.
"I know his good. He's won 12 for us now. He goes well and we thought he had a good chance.
"You can get much better than that."
Marway won eight from 21 with John O'Sing in Rockhampton before being sent to Newnham in Sydney last year. He won three of his first five starts in Sydney before the Wagga Town Plate romp on Thursday.
Sturgiss, who flew to Canberra then drove to Wagga, bred Marway but lost both the stallion, Hemingway, and the mare Maredamah last year.
He said there would have been plenty of cheering going on back in Rockhampton.
"He's got a big following," Sturgiss said.
"They'll be watching. I've got messages coming through already."
Sherry, who hails from Dublin, had never been to Wagga before but leaves with a perfect strike rate.
"First ride, first win and I'm on the road home," Sherry said.
The 22-year-old had never ridden Marway on race day before but could not help but be impressed.
"It was very good. He was well placed by the boss today," Sherry said.
"He did everything right, he was behaving in the gate and once I asked him to come back beneath me 100 metres after leaving the gate he came right back and settled beautifully and gave us beautiful kick at the top of the straight to put the race to bed.
"Once I turned into the straight and slipped him a bit of rein, I could feel him extend underneath me. I didn't realise how far in front I was but he did it very easy.
"He's capable of stepping up in class now and hopefully he can get a nice race under his belt. He's a very fast horse...the hardest part today was pulling him up after the line."
