Mr Blunt razor sharp

Backed as if unbeatable, first-starter Mr Blunt proved much too sharp for his rivals at Sportsbet Ballarat Synthetic on Friday, July 4.

Trained by Tony & Calvin McEvoy, Mr Blunt opened at $2.10 but razor-sharp punters jumped in, and he eventually ran the $1.24 favourite in the McGrath Ballarat Maiden (1200m).

Jockey Harry Coffey bounced the three-year-old to front, withstood an early challenge, then asked to improve from the 500m mark.

Mr Blunt bounded away to win by nine lengths from My Symbol ($31) with Watt On Earth ($9.50), a head away third.

Rayan Moore, racing manager for McEvoy Mitchell was very complimentary of Mr Blunt.

“I thought he would go well, but probably not that well,” Moore said.

“There is a lot of raw ability there.

“I would like to give a big thank you to Joe Cunningham.

“At the start of this preparation, he did a lot of work with him in the barriers and Joe, down at Mornington, has worked his wonders with him.

“He has come back in great order and congratulations to Paul Schauble who owns this guy outright.

“He has been breeding horses for a long time, and I think he has got a good one here.

“Mr Blunt was very relaxed out in front, controlled and put the race away pretty quickly.”

Winning jockey Harry Coffey said Mr Blunt had exciting potential.

“He was good,” Coffey said.

“He probably didn’t beat much, but he continued to build his gallop.

“He didn’t have a great turn of foot, but he kept building and took a lot of pulling up.

“Mr Blunt is a bit of a lad and a bit boisterous so plenty of work to be done but you can only win, and he did that.

“He’s hard work but the team have done a really good job with him.

“The trackwork team and all the crew at the stables do a good job and it makes my job easy when they come to the races, behave, jump on the speed, out cruise their rivals, it makes me look really good.”