Anthony Butt drives Needabacardi to victory in the Vicbred two-year-old colts and geldings final.
A two-year-old gelding broke his maiden status and in doing so delivered his Elmore trainer her first Group 1 victory.
Needabacardi was the toast of the town when the Bacardi Lindy gelding by Modern Maori mowed down favourites Illawong Byron and Deltasun to win the Empire Stallions Vicbred Super Series for two-year-old colts and geldings.
The victory brought a career highlight for trainer Jenny Johnson.
“My first Group 1, obviously, (part-owner) Graham (Johannesen’s) had a few, but the first one for me,” Johnson said.
“He has got a lot of speed and he’s improved a lot in a couple of starts. He’s going very well. A big win for Elmore, the town’s doing well.”
Illawong Byron found the front for trainer-driver Jodi Quinlan and controlled the race, with 31.4 and 32.0 first and second quarters setting up what loomed as a dramatic showdown between the gelding and Deltasun on his back.
But it was Needabacardi, three back the pegs, who had the most left in the tank and Anthony Butt hit the line first in a 2:03.0 mile rate.
“He went really good in the heat, gave me a really good feel that night. He got knocked down in the start and recovered really well,” Butt said. “I thought from the draw he needed a little bit of luck and things panned out really good for him.
“He’s just a lovely horse. Apparently he had done things wrong his first couple of starts through a bit of inexperience. These young trotters, they just have to put it all together and he has a really big motor.”
The win, at $16.70, brought great joy to owners Graeme Johannesen, Wendy Dalton, Sandra Brown, Colin Pascoe, Richard Jones and Chris Jones.
“He was a bit of a pain to start with, he was a yearling and it’s good to get him through and prove that you are not completely over the hill,” Johannesen said.
“He’s a nice horse. He was in the sales and he hurt a leg or got a cold or something. We were working a half-brother to him at the time. When this bloke was there we sort of looked at him, got a few people together and bought him. This bloke’s got a lot of ability, he’s a nice horse.”
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