16-year-old Ethan Arnott broke through for his first win with the Todd Rattray-trained All About Ivy ($9.50) when scoring in an up to 49 rating event (2200m) in Launceston on Sunday afternoon.
Arnott was having his fourth race drive on the Well Said mare, positioning her behind the leader from the pole draw.
When race favourite Gypsy Amour, who was racing outside the leader, commenced to give ground from the 500m, it gave Arnott clear racing room with All About Ivy, who was able to rundown Flo Jo Carvalho over the concluding stages to score by 1.2m, with Done Well a further nine-meters away third in a mile rate of 2:00.9s.
“I thought she could run in the money, but I wasn’t expecting her to get home as well as she did,” Arnott said after the race.
“I was always going to try and end up on the back of Flo Jo Carvalho and hopefully get a gap late, which is how it worked out, and when Gyspy Amour started to drop out, I knew I was going to be in it with a bit of a sniff.
“When we turned for home, I thought I was going to win. She did run out a little bit, but once we straightened up, she let down well,” the sound driver explained.
Ethan, the son of former driver Andrew Arnott, has just completed his Year 11 studies at St. Patricks College in suburban Launceston.
He will compete in the 6ty Youngbloods Challenge on 1 December.
His future plans in racing will be based on his educational studies and his 1st-grade cricket commitments with South Launceston. He is also striving with his cricket ambitions to represent the state under-17 team early next year.
He likes to head out and assist trainer Todd Rattray when time allows.
The win of All About Ivy was the first leg of a training treble for the Todd Rattray stable.
Rattray was in the sulky for the first-up win of Swiatek Leis ($3.90) in the 6ty Bandbox Prelude (2200m), and again with the victory of Mayor Of Elwood ($1.60 fav) in race eight (1680m).
Other highlights at the meeting included Smooth Machete ($1.90 fav) scoring in the Nutrien Ag Solutions Globe Derby Prelude (2200m), while All By Myself ($4.20 fav) made a winning return from a spell in the Free For All (2200m).
