Three-year-old filly Weona Eagle will be aiming for her third win of the season when she lines up in the Whitney Family Pace (1609m) in Hobart on Sunday afternoon.
Weona Eagle flew around the Launceston circuit, running 1:56.6s over the 1680m to break her maiden three runs ago, with her most recent win coming in Burnie on 13 December, where she won by nine metres after sprinting home best after racing behind the leader.
Trainer Steven Davis admits the filly has shown talent during track work since he took over her training in June.
“She has come a fair way. Brett Jaffray did all the work with her, but he had to go and get a knee replacement, and she had an aversion to going in a horse float.
“She is a typical filly. You never know when you have got her, but on her day she is very hard to beat.
“She works pretty good. When we first got her, she was going okay, but then she kept on improving, and her Bandbox heat run, I couldn’t work out what happened. Then I backed her up as a late nom when Gareth drove her, and I told him if she races like she works, she will win easily, and that’s pretty much what she did,” Davis said.
“Her run in the Bandbox Final was ordinary. She did no work out of the gate, sat back and did nothing, and I said to Brodie I can’t work her out.
“She worked really well before Burnie, and we expected her to win there from the draw,” the trainer explained.
Steven’s son Brodie will take the reins in Sunday’s race, where she has drawn barrier two.
“I think she will lead up, and if they attack her, she doesn’t have to hold them out as she can sit on speed and really zip home, and with the passing lane there, it doesn’t really matter. She is probably the only horse I have that can make use of the passing lane.
“I don’t like going all that way down the highway, but that race suited where she would draw well. The next few weeks at Burnie and Carrick she would have drawn ordinary,” said Davis.
Sunday’s Hobart card will be shown on Sky Racing 1 and Tasracing Live from 12.34. There will be a full race-by-race preview with Duncan Dornauf on RSN from 11:35.
Trainers and owners are also reminded that nominations for next week’s meetings in Burnie and at Carrick Park close at 9:30 on Monday due to the public holidays during the week.
