Bettor Than Ready continued his build-up towards next month’s Two-Year-Old Colts and Geldings Sweepstakes Final when claiming the opening heat over 1609m at Hobart’s Ladbrokes Park Elwick on Sunday night.
Driven by Tarn Ford, the Bettors Wish gelding was quickly positioned in the one-one, before being let down at the 500m.
Bettor Than Ready ($1.60 fav) went on to score by 5.6m over Calzo Sniper ($2.90), with Hey Poster Boy ($18) a further 33.2m away third.
The time for the mile was 1:58.2s, with Bettor Than Ready’s individual last half mile on the Calculated sectionals recorded in 56.37, the fastest of the meeting.
“He ran that with the plugs still in,” said Tarn.
“He is just a professional.
“No matter where he draws in the final, it’s not going to be a problem, because he has got enough high speed to put himself in a position,” said the driver.
The win was the first leg of a driving double for Tarn, who drove the Ray Pullen-trained Crayons To Perfume ($3.60) to victory later in the night.
Bettor Than Ready’s win was one of four on the program for the Langley stable.
Langley prepared Go Diva ($1.22 fav) to win the fillies heat, with Dylan Ford taking the drive.
She sat in the one-one and launched three-wide at the 600m, going on to win by 7.2m in 1:58.2s.
“They would want to be pretty good to beat her (in the final).
“We knew they (the two-year-olds) were going to be better this time in, but gee, they are peaking at the right time,” said Dylan.
Dylan drove the other two winners for the Langley stable, including Itsmenotu ($1.90 fav) in the opening race.
“Her form has been super this time in. She should have won the Granny Smith. It was just a bad drive,” said Dylan.
Sweetheart Dior ($1.05 fav) won the final race on the program.
“She just worked too well during the week to not be confident,” said the driver.
Dylan shared driving honours at the meeting with Abbey Turnbull, who teamed up with her father Craig to score with Fourth Response ($1.60 fav), Intrusion ($1.80 fav) and Sabalenka ($1.18 fav).
