Lightly raced Stonebridge Regal filly Iden Miss Lucy opened her winning account when registering an all the way win in the Cascade Draught Pace in Hobart on Sunday night.
Trainer-driver Conor Crook was able to find the lead on the $2.25 favourite. After a soft lead time and first quarter, the three-year-old filly was forced to do it hard for the final 1200 metres when challenged by another runner, but Iden Miss Lucy dug deep late to score in 2m 4.5s for the 2090-metre trip.
“She did a good job. She got it her own way but was kept honest by Iden Black Prince for the last 1200 metres and did a good job to fight them all off,” said Crook after the race.
Crook indicated that the filly is still learning what the racing game is about.
“She is still learning and improving. Her Devonport start prior was better than it looked. She was off the bit and just couldn’t keep her in her position, so I put a hood on her last night, and she didn’t steer that good in it but did travel better,” he said.
The trainer-driver did acknowledge the previous work done by Christian Salter, who had ironed a few issues out of the filly before she was transferred to the Crook stable.
“She did have a few runs as a two-year-old, and she did a bit wrong in those races, so she didn’t learn how to race. When I picked her up off Christian, he did say that she worked well enough to win a few races,” said the Beauty Point-based trainer.
Iden Miss Lucy is raced by Bagdad owner-breeder Elliott Booth, who collected his large Tasbred bonus with the win. Booth also part-owns and bred the second placegetter Iden Black Prince.
Crook ended the nine-race card with a driving treble with wins aboard Denstown and Keep Playing, who was a part of a training quartet for Ben Yole, who also prepared Kiavino Stride (Hannah Van Dongen) and Deadly Assassin (Jordan Chibnall) to victory.
Mother and son duo Tammy Langley and Dylan Ford continued their good form with a double, including two-year-old Pet Rock colt Pawnbrokers Lad and recent stable edition Jackson Neptune.
Starofremembrance broke through for an overdue win after several placings since the Betterthancheddar mare joined the Paul Medhurst stable.
The fast class race of the night was once again won by the Juanita McKenzie trained Cool Water Paddy.
