It was a weekend of first wins in Tasmania last week.
At TAB Park Elwick on Friday evening, driver Gavin Kelly drove his first winner when he partnered Blackbird Power to victory in the fast class race of the night while the Todd Rattray-trained two-year-old Kens Chips won the Blue Bonnet on debut.
Launceston was the venue for Tasmanian harness racing on Sunday where Kim Grant notched up her first win after five years of perseverance while another two-year-old, Artyboy Glenwood was able to win on debut.
Also on Sunday, we learned about the passing of owner-breeder Bill Fawdry. Fawdry raced a number of nice horses in both equine codes plus he was a major sponsor of harness racing through his business Island Block and Paving.
Tonight harness racing will be held in Launceston while Hobart will race on Sunday.
The Stars
Blackbird Power – delivered an early birthday present for trainer-driver Gavin Kelly when the gelded son of Mach Three produced a tough performance to win the Triple M Hobart Pace on Friday night. It was the first win in the state for the Gavin Kelly stable since relocating just over a month ago, as well as being Kelly’s first win in the sulky at only his twelfth race drive.
Juanita McKenzie and Ricky Duggan – both recorded doubles on the Hobart card for the second consecutive Hobart meeting. The dynamic duo teamed up with talented three-year-old Cool Water Paddy who recorded his third win of the season before winning later on the card with Laredo Torpedo who broke through for his first win this preparation after a number of placings.
Resurgent Storm – finally broke through for his fifth career win after five consecutive placings, including a second placing five starts ago in the Tasmanian Derby. Driver Gareth Rattray took the Roger Whitmore-trained colt straight to the lead in the Tastech Building Systems Sires Produce where he proved too strong for his rivals.
Kens Chips – The daughter of Heston Blue Chip was on debut and despite the outside of the front row draw she was too good for her rivals in the Blue Bonnet.
Kim Grant – was able to drive her first winner after five years of perseverance when she partnered the Ben Yole-trained Lake Eyre to victory in Launceston. The New Zealand born driver gave Lake Eyer a lovely run till the home corner where she worked into the clear and the pair went on for a 2.9-metre victory.
Multiple Winners
Hobart – Friday evening
Ricky Duggan – driving double; Cool Water Paddy and Laredo Torpedo.
Juanita McKenzie – training double; Cool Water Paddy and Laredo Torpedo.
Launceston – Sunday evening
Ben Yole – training treble; Diamond Grace, Lake Eyre and Border Cross.
Bianca Heenan – training double; Twenty Two Karat and Miss Maguire.
Calculated Sectional Standouts
Quickest last halves (800m) from last week’s action.
Hobart – Friday evening
Laredo Torpedo 57.32s, Tiwanaku 58.14s, Rowley and Believe In Forever both 58.69s, Cool Water Paddy and War Dan Delight both 58.70s.
Launceston – Sunday evening
Sea Sky 57.71s, Perfect Mach 57.80s, Twenty Two Karat 57.89s, Drillittobits 57.92s and Got The Goods 58.05s.
View all available Tasmanian Sectional Data by clicking here.
Tasracing Official Price
Hobart – Friday evening
Hits: Cool Water Paddy $1.70 into $1.50 and Blackbird Power $9.00 into $8.50.
Defied The Drift: Give Me The Night $2.70 out to $2.90, Laredo Torpedo $1.90 out to $2.15 and Kens Chips $4.60 out to $6.50.
Missed: Hear The Call $19 into $11, Tiwanaku $71 into $41 and Dusty Martini $4.20 into $3.60.
Launceston – Sunday evening
Hits: Artyboy Glenwood $2.40 into $2.00 and Diamond Grace $2.90 into $1.95.
Defied The Drift: Lake Eyre $26 out to $61, Border Cross $31 out to $51 and Drillittobits $2.80 out to $3.60.
Missed: Art Edition $11 into $7.50, Black Ops $3.60 into $1.95, Got The Goods $5.50 into $3.50, Adele Said $6.00 into $3.80, Our Quinn $13 into $8.50,
Trial File
Hobart – Monday evening
The injury-plagued I Wanna Rock proved too good for his rivals in a C1 to C2 assessed trial over 2090 metres.
After showing gate speed trainer-driver Sam Rawnsley positioned the gelded son of Rock N Roll Heaven three back along with the marker pegs and proved too strong late to win by five metres over Origin Billy and Caciocavallo.
The mile rate was the quickest of the four trials held in 2m 4.3s.
Other trial winners were; Ive Got Oomph (2m 5.7s),Mista Eagle (2m 13.s) and Vladimir Hall (2m 4.9s).
Devonport – Monday evening
Devonport Harness Racing Club president Claire McDonald was in the winner’s circle at Monday night’s trials when she partnered Jaminas Joy to victory.
Jaminas Joy is trained by Rod Burgess and was able to defeat Rollon Jack by three metres in a mile rate of 2m 7.4s for the 2297 metre trial.
Remaining trials were won by; Chief Destroyer (2m 10.4s), Brookwillrev (2m 10.5s) and Machitelli (2m 8.5s).
Week Ahead
Hobart will host harness on Sunday night.
The Marc Butler-trained Western Glory will be looking for her seventh career win when she lines up in the Yak Ales Pace. Western Glory is a daughter of Western Terror and was an easy winner of her most recent start in Launceston where she scored by nine metres.
On Sunday Western Glory has drawn barrier four on the second and one of her main rivals includes the Ben Yole-trained Ashleys Angel, who is the winner of 12 races and comes into to the race off a second placing at Penrith.
The first of seven races will commence at 17:19.
On Friday evening, the harness meeting will be held in Launceston. Tab.com.au have a $1,346 Quinella Jackpot on the first race on the card, a $405 Extra Double Jackpot on races four and five plus a $1,000 Quaddie Jackpot that commenced on race two.
The final race of the night is for the Two-Year-Olds where Watchmylips will be chasing back to back wins after his brilliant victory on Easter Cup night.
Across Bass Strait this week we see No Apachemee line up in the opening race at Melton on Saturday night while last season’s Mare of the year, Call Her Julie is an emergency for the Group 3 Make Mine Cullen mares feature at the same venue.
