Barbary Tales took another step towards a clean sweep of the Tasbred mares series when claiming the second heat of the Granny Smith for four-year-old mares in Launceston on Sunday.
Sent out as the $1.35 favourite, driver Brodie Davis allowed the Steven Davis-trained mare to balance up from a wide draw early before working forward to find the lead near the 1500m. From there, the For A Reason mare dictated the race and went on to record a 2.2m win over Itsmenotu ($15), with The Bride ($7) a further 13.6m away third in a mile rate of 2:01.0s.
“They went a bit slow early, but it was a nice hit-out for her.
“She had been working good, and the first-up run (in Hobart on 14 June) tightened her up a little bit, and tonight will do her the world of good,” said Steven.
“There’s not a lot of change in her, really. We sort of have got nothing that can really test her in track work and that sort of thing. She just does the same thing in track work as she was doing last year,” said the trainer when asked to compare the mare from her Bandbox win in November.
The mare will be looking to become the second horse from either sex to win all three legs of the Tasbred series, after Swiatek Leis achieved the feat last year.
“After drawing seven (in the heat), hopefully we have the bad draw out of the way,” laughed Steve.
After the Granny Smith, the mare will be aimed at the Beautide, a race she finished second in last season.
The other heat of the Granny Smith was won by Carmen Emjay ($1.22 fav).
Driver Jordan Chibnall took the Paul Ashwood-trained Sutter Hanover mare straight to the lead and scored by 2.2m.
The favourites were to the fore in the Raider Stakes heats for the Tasbred four-year-old entires and geldings.
Hungry Hippo ($1.10 fav), who was first-up since his Globe Derby win in November and first-up for the Alex Ashwood stable, took out the first heat after sitting in the one-one.
The win was one of three in the sulky for Ashwood.
He trained and drove six-year-old gelding Remmington to his maiden win, and he was in the sulky on the Leigh Rand-trained Muzzame Mate ($41), who won in 1:54.8s.
The second heat of the Raider Stakes was won by Okanui Beach ($1.12 fav), who led all the way to score, completing a training and driving double for the Craig and Abbey Turnbull combination after Intrusion ($3.80) won the open class race of the night.
After Haveyoumetmaynard broke the two-year-old age record by 0.4s on 21 June, which had stood for almost 10 years, it was further broken in the opening race.
The Tammy Langley-trained Bettor Than Ready ($11) took 0.8s off the recent record when scoring by 1.1m in the opening race in a mile rate of 1:55.5s.
The daughter of Bettors Wish, who was purchased at the 2025 Tasmanian Harness Racing Yearling Sale for $27,500, will now be aimed at the upcoming heats of the Sweepstakes series, where several pacers currently based or who have raced interstate are being targeted.
Bettor Than Ready was driven by Tarn Ford, and was one of three winners for the Tammy Langley stable with Dylan Ford driving the stable’s other two winners, Go Diva ($1.30 fav) and Bail Denied ($2.00 fav).
Other winners on the program included Atomic Black ($4.40) with Todd Rattray taking the winning drive for trainer Charlie Castles, who had football commitments, while Astormzabrewen ($6.00) recorded her maiden win for the Mark Yole and Sam Freeman combination in the last of 12 races.
