Burns happy to see swayback Ronstar proving himself on the track
There is one reason Ron Burns still owns the unbeaten Ronstar and you only have to look at the swayback son of Zoustar to understand why.
“If we took him to the sales we would have got nothing for him,” Burns said. “It wasn’t even a consideration to send him to be sold. He has probably made more now [in prizemoney] than he would have in the ring.
“He has a good family behind him and I spoke with a few old trainers and jockeys and they said it [being swayback] doesn’t really affect them if they have the talent, and he certainly has.
“From the first time he galloped he had this loping action and showed he was pretty good.”
Gary Portelli had to be patient with Ronstar, which has overcome growing pains to be a winter star. His swayback hasn't stopped him scoring twice over the Rosehill 1200 metres from on speed and he steps up to 1400m on Saturday looking to continue his winning roll.
“He has something you can’t breed or teach: that determination to win,” Burns said. “In both his wins I think he has been headed but he has that determination not to be beaten.
“To me the 1400m should not be a problem because he looks like being a miler. He always seems to have something in reserve at the end of his races.”
Burns has already turned down a sizeable offer from Asia for Ronstar and believes he is only going to get better as he steps up in trip.
"We want to race him. I have already made one mistake by selling his mother, I don't want to make another one," he said.
The Zoustar gelding has eased in betting at both his starts and once again has been displaced as favourite by Irish Bet in the early betting for Saturday. Portelli can see no reason he can’t continue his unbeaten start.
“His work just keeps getting better and he is a horse that is still learning to use himself properly,” Portelli said. “You can still see it in his races when he scrambled a bit but he has always been able to run time. That makes you think that he is a nice horse.
“It is another test for him but he hasn't let us down yet.”
Portelli’s day will finish early with three-year-old filly Nicci’s Gold set to improve second-up from a spell in the second at Rosehill.
“She didn’t have a lot of luck last time and she has taken a lot of benefit from the run. Her work on Tuesday was as good as it gets and I think she is over the odds,” Portelli said. “It is a very good sign when the jockey really wants to stick with a horse and Jason Collett was quick to get on the phone to tell me he would stick with her.”