Maiden winner pays almost $400 on Betfair in wild form reversal
Five-year-old gelding Gus The Bus staged a remarkable form turnaround on Saturday, breaking his maiden status at start number 22 at odds of almost $400 on Betfair.
'Gus' had just one minor placing to his name coming into the third event on the Gold Coast Poly track but a 154-day spell clearly worked wonders.
Resuming in a nine-horse maiden over 1150m, the Karyn Brewster-trained galloper was sent forward by Andrew Spinks to race outside of the pacesetter.
After joining the leader Exceed To Ambition at the top of the straight, the pair staged a two-horse war until Gus The Bus pulled clear late in the piece to prevail by 1.3 lengths.
Red-hot favourite Pearl In Hay ($1.70) just whacked away behind the leading pair to finish third.
The winner paid $394.48 on Betfair, dwarfing the best tote price of $126 - still nothing to sneeze at if you somehow managed to find him.
'Gus' was last seen finishing just over seven lengths off the winner in a similar race at the same track back in November, which followed nine and seven-length defeats at Ipswich and Kilcoy prior.
The son of Floral Pegasus started his racing career in Victoria under Kilmore trainer Jody Thompson, failing to fire in seven starts down south.
Gus The Bus' last run before venturing north was particularly underwhelming, beaten over 14 lengths in a picnic maiden at Holbrook.
Adding to the surprise maiden victory was the fact Spinks lost the use of his nearside rein for several strides passing the 250m.
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