Vanquish Stride ($9) gave his trainer, Wayne Yole, his 100th winner of the season when claiming the Tasmanian Horse Transport Show Cup (2200m) in Launceston on Sunday night.
The Bettor Delight gelding, who is out of the draw in standing start races, galloped out and wasn’t seen in the video until tacking on near the 1609m to settle three-back the pegs.
Driver Liam Older got the pacer into the clear near the 300m, where he sprinted home best to pick up Rockandahardplace ($31) right on the line by a short-half head, with Star Major ($2.45 fav) 4.8m away third in a mile rate of 1:59.9s.
“It was a super run, he probably gave them 50m at the start, and obviously a few big guns got taken out (near the 1800m), but in all credit to him, it was a huge run,” said Older.
“He isn’t a stand horse to be fair, but he is one of the quickest horses I have driven. He is high speed, and if he is close enough in most races, he will be there.”
The win completed a driving treble for Older, whose other two wins came from the Todd Rattray stable earlier in the night.
Two-year-old filly Queen Anastasia ($4), a half-sister to the likes of Barynya and Lombo Navigator, recorded her maiden win in the opening race for two-year-olds over 1680m.
The filly found the lead near the 1200m, and held her more fancied stablemate Quetzalli ($1.90 fav) over the concluding stages to score in 1:59.7s.
“She is a tough little filly who is starting to do a few more things right.
“I think she had a bit left in the tank, to be honest, you can’t give her her head at this stage.”
Cuzzy Junior, a three-year-old gelding, also recorded a maiden win with an all-the-way win in race three (1680m) in 1:59.0s.
“He got out of the gate good, and it was probably the first time he has led, and he was a bit all over the place, but once the pull downs came down and I asked him, I was very pleased with how he sprinted up,” the driver said.
Trainer Todd Rattray ended up with his 500th winner when he trained and drove Unmatched ($2.45) to victory later in the night.
Another milestone win was that of Mark Reggett, who trained his 50th career winner with Smooth Reason ($2.30 fav) in the Barry Freeman Memorial.
