Five-year-old Captaintreachrous gelding De Goey ($3 fav) claimed his fourth win of the season when proving too tough for his rivals in the Go Racing Ulverstone Cup (2698m) in Launceston on Sunday night.
Driver Rohan Hillier got the Rohan Hadley-trained pacer away safely from his second-row draw in the standing start event to settle in a midfield spot before working around the field to race outside the leader from the 2000m.
A mid-race move near the mile by Eureka Jo saw De Goey press on to find the lead near the 1300m.
De Goey raced away from his rivals in the home straight to score by 14.5m over Blitzern ($9) and Eureka Jo ($4) in a mile rate of 2:00.4s.
“It’s the best he has gone, I reckon,” said Hillier post-race.
“He did a good job and found the line tonight.
“I think racing at that level has made him a lot tougher, and (Rohan) Hadley likes him driven that way, and I’m sure he could sit up, but Hadley loves him doing it tough and driving him like the best horse in the race, which he probably was.”
Hillier ended the night with a driving treble, with one of his winners being Morikawa, a two-year-old colt by Always B Miki who won on debut by a short half-head in the opening race.
“He went a bit rough, but once he balanced up, he hit the line really well, and I think he has a bit of improvement in him,” the trainer-driver said.
Other $14,000 features held on the card included the Max McCormack (2200m) won by Iris Brown ($2.50) and Spot Ruler ($1.65 fav) claimed the Leis Fillies & Mares Feature (2200m).
