Peter Sinclair’s other entrant, Russian Empire, came a disappointing fifth in race five. Peter Blanch’s Tank came last in the second. Martin Fernando’s two runners placed sixth (Monchique, race five) and seventh (Four Amigos, race four).

Nathan Sinclair said he hadn’t expected Innocent Billy to perform so strongly in the 1000m benchmark 50 handicap.

“I thought he went pretty good. He surprised me – I didn’t expect him to run second,” he said.

“I thought the race would be too short for him. He’s normally a 1400-1600m horse.

“Coming down the straight, I thought he was going to be hard to beat the way he was going.

“For a while there I thought he was going to get it.”

Sinclair had anticipated a mid-field finish for Innocent Billy. However, the horse was able to exceed expectations because it was fresh and carrying little weight, he said.

Innocent Billy’s next assignment will be Inverell on Monday.

Sinclair said the longer distance (1200m) would suit the horse, as would the fact it would be saddled with minimum weight.

Blanch’s Tank may also run at Inverell, depending on how it pulls up over the next day or two.

Tank finished nine lengths off the pace on debut.

“We thought it was a reasonable performance being his first run,” Blanch said.

“He knocked up towards the end which we expected because it was his first run.

“It was more an education for him than anything else. There was nothing expected of him.”

One thing Blanch learned was that Tank became intimidated when the other horses crossed its path.

Fernando said he was satisfied with how Four Amigos and Monchique ran given their flood-affected preparations.

Four Amigos finished four lengths off the pace, but was in contention until the field turned for home, Fernando said. At that point, the horse run out of energy.

Monchique trailed the winner by five lengths, after being squeezed out of the barriers by the other horses.

Fernando said the contact had left Monchique very sore in the shoulder, but the horse would back-up for Inverell if fit. Four Amigos, though, wouldn’t make the trip.

While Fernando was content with his horses’ performances, Peter Sinclair was disappointed Russian Empire failed to finish in the places.

Russian Empire came home almost four lengths behind Sully’s Shadow in third.

Russian Empire’s slow run was due to its flood-affected preparation and being forced to carry the most weight of the nine-horse field, according to Sinclair.

“He’ll go to Inverell and needs to improve on what he did on Saturday,” he said.