The Bianca Heenan-trained Tell All filly Bridwood Maisey broke through for her maiden win at her second race start in the $20,000 Wayne Rattray Two Year Old Classic (1680m) in Launceston on Sunday afternoon.
From barrier two, reinsman Mitch Ford took the $1.95 favourite straight to the lead from barrier two and controlled the race in blustery conditions, running a lead time of 4.8s, with the first two quarters in 30.1s and 32.6s.
Ford put down over the final half mile running 28.6s and 27.8s, to score by 3.9m over Likeyouforareason ($2.70) and Qualify ($14) in a mile rate of 1:58.7s.
The well-bred filly is raced by greyhound trainer Richard Hall, and is out of My Tupelo Honey, whose dam was multiple Group 1 winner Tupelo Rose.
“She was excellent today, she took a lot of improvement out of last start, which was expected,” said driver Mitch Ford.
“She was quick out of the gate, which is one of her main assets.
“She will go straight to the Evicus heats (in Hobart on 17 October) and hopefully she takes a bit more out of today’s run, and she should be competitive in that with the right draw,” said the driver.
Another pacer on track for an upcoming feature race series is Barbary Tales ($2.60 fav), who led all the way to win a 64 to 74 pace over 1680m in 1:55.6s, which equalled Waterfront’s Three Year Old Fillies 1680m record.
The Steven Davis-trained three-year-old filly was taken straight to the lead by driver Brodie Davis.
The filly is eligible for the upcoming $75,000 Bandbox on 29 November, with heats scheduled for 16 November. But first, connections are considering nominating the pacer for the upcoming Three Year Old Fillies Vicbred series in Victoria.
Earlier in the day, Vanquish Stride ($7) claimed another open class win, this time in a 2200m mobile start Free For All.
Driver Liam Older had the Wayne Yole-trained Bettors Delight gelding positioned back in the six-horse field, where they enjoyed a solid tempo throughout, to finish off best and run down Star Major ($1.60 fav) by 4.5m in 1:56.3s, just 0.8s outside the 2200m track record.
It has been a successful season for Vanquish Stride, winning races such as the Golden Mile (in a state record time) and the Show Cup.
“He is a nice horse, and he is a horse that likes the speed on, and that’s what happened today,” said trainer Wayne Yole after the win.
“Liam (Older) has a good understanding of him, and he knows when to push the button, and he has said he is probably the quickest horse that he has driven,” said the trainer.
