Bailey Wheeler enjoys a winning Saturday on the Sunshine Coast

There is no track where Bailey Wheeler has ridden as many winners as Sunshine Coast. The move to Queensland has given the teenager plenty of confidence in himself. He is particularly notable when he is riding on the Polytrack surface at Gold Coast. With a record of 25/126 there, it is a 27% strike rate.

Wheeler’s 1.5 claim a helping hand

It remains one of the top angles that a good bettor has in their arsenal. Spot a quality apprentice before others and their claim proves to be as invaluable to your own wagers as it does to the trainers who give them the rides.

Wheeler is still able to claim 1.5 and that came in helpful on his first winner of the afternoon, Liberty Steps. A horse unproven beyond 1400m with a 60 kg impost was allowed to go off at $9.50 by punters.

The innermost barrier draw helped Wheeler who saved every inch of ground as they moved into the straight, driving his partner to the front 300m out. Wheeler clearly had no concerns about the stamina of the horse who dug in late to win by 0.8l.

Cosmo Centaurus is a three-year-old to follow

Robert Heathcote has a nice sprinter on his hands in Cosmo Centaurus. He made a winning debut at Sunshine Coast in August but had not made it back to the track for a race until Saturday afternoon where he continued the unbeaten start to his career.

It is easy to see why they have not pushed him too hard. Cosmo Centaurus is a horse of plenty of size, still looking like a big baby when Wheeler asked him to go and win his race. There is a slightly high head carriage and he hung to the right but the engine is in there.

At this stage of his career, it is impossible to tell just how good he might be. It was a win off a rating of 60 on Saturday and although the margin was only a length, the visual impression was that there is a mountain of improvement still to come.

Heathcote has always done well with sprinters and described this gelding as the best he’d had in years a couple of days before his August debut. That is high praise but the initial impression is that the veteran trainer could be spot on.

Listed winner for Wheeler in the Sunshine Coast Cup

Wheeler’s treble was brought up aboard Elettrica in the Sunshine Coast Cup. The six-year-old mare was running in just the second black type race of her career. In the 36th race of her life, it was a clear best.

Drawn wide in 11, she was held up right out the back in the early stages. There were still only a couple behind her as they entered the straight, Wheeler switching her to the wide outside of the field to make her run.

The response when Wheeler asked was electric! She made giant strides past the field in a short time and went on to win by 2.3l. Perhaps it was not the strongest race for the grade but the visual impression that she made was a stunning one.

A single winner left to make it 250 in the career of Bailey Wheeler. That is going to be a matter of course before the young man hits 20 years of age. The betting sites should know his name by now as a star in the making.