Records were broken in Launceston on Sunday night when Call Me Hector dictated affairs to score in 1m 54.4s in the Impress Print Free For All.
While another runner in the race recorded the fastest individual last half mile recorded since December 2015, read on to find out who.
This week harness racing heads to Hobart with the two $20,000 Tasmanian Trotting Club Sweepstakes finals on a bumper 10-race card.
The Stars
Call Me Hector – flew around Launceston in 1m 54.4s to claim the Launceston track record courtesy of another dashing front running drive by trainer-driver Matthew Cooper. Call Me Hector has now won 19 of his 58 career starts.
Bridwood Bella – continues to run fast times. The Rohan Hadley-trained two-year-old filly ran a state fillies record for two-year-olds on debut in 1m 57.0s and was just outside of that time when she stopped the clock in 1m 57.7s on Sunday after racing outside the leader before putting the race beyond doubt a long way from home. The win was the first leg of a driving treble for Conor Crook.
Kivik – continued his excellent start to his career when he won his third race at his sixth racetrack appearance. The Courage Under Fire gelding was well driven by Ben Parker who had the pacer positioned one-out and one-back soon after the start before leading up the three-wide line for the final 750 metres.
Nine Diamonds – has had six starts since arriving in the state and she registered her third Tasmanian win in a rating 56 to 65 fillies and mares’ event. The Ben Yole-trained pacer raced out three and four wide over the final 70 metres and proved too good late for the short price favourite Feel The Burn.
Devil Of Tyne – recorded the biggest winning margin in the state for some time when the Geoff Smith-trained pacer won by 42.9 metres to register the eight-year-old geldings first win since late February.
Multiple Winners
Launceston – Sunday evening
Conor Crook – driving treble; Bridwood Bella, Lake Eyre and Pockets Of Courage.
Ben Yole – training double; Lake Eyre and Nine Diamonds.
Calculated Sectional Standouts
Quickest last halves (800m) from last week’s action.
Launceston – Sunday evening
Lip Reader 55.02s (Quickest individual calculated last half mile in Tasmania since they were recorded in December 2015), The Shallows 55.08s, Ignatius 55.39s, Call Me Hector 55.40s and Mia From Memphis 55.79s.
Outside of race six; Murry 56.28s, Lockaway Kacie and Chasing Cheetahs 56.37, Tarleton Riley 56.42s and Jeans attests 56.46s.
View all available Tasmanian Sectional Data by clicking here.
Tasracing Official Price
Launceston – Sunday evening
Hit’s: Pockets Of Courage $10 into $8.00, Call Me Hector $5.00 into $4.40, Nine Diamonds $5.50 into $4.40 and Devil Of Tyne $19 into $17.
Defied The Drift: Lake Eyre $9.00 out to $11, Lockaway Kacie $5.00 out to $6.00 and Kivik $2.00 out to $2.70.
Missed: My Ultimate Romeo $10 into $8.50, My Girl Pearl $4.20 into $3.60, Border Cross $8.50 into $7.50, Hezatoff $10 into $7.00, The Thug $4.20 into $3.40, Jack Len $7.00 into $4.80, Pink Ponder $14 into $9.00, Radiant Red $12 into $5.00, Kosio $3.90 into $2.90, Got The Goods $17 into $8.50 and Black Ops $4.60 into $3.70.
Trial File
Hobart – Monday evening
Five trials were staged with the Mark Geeves-trained Betterthancheddar filly Whey Better recording the quickest winning mile rate of the night in 2m 2.0s.
Reisnman Paul “Skip” Ashwood took the two-year-old straight to the lead from barrier two and raced clear of the field in quarters of 31.5s, 30.8s, 30.2s and 29.4s to score by 21.1 metres over Rocknroll Roxy with Miss Ruby Rose a further 27.5 metres away third.
Taylor Ford-trained three winners with Christian Major (2m 3.3s), Melody Beach (2m 4.4s) and Graphics (2m 6.4s). While the other winner was the Bianca Heenan-trained Betterbsweet (2m 4.6s)
Week Ahead
Sunday night in Hobart we see the finals of the $20,000 Tasmanian Trotting Club Sweepstakes for the two-year-olds.
The fillies contest the third race of the night where impressive prelude winner Melnrowley has drawn barrier four with Gareth Rattray booked to take the drive once again.
A lot of her main rivals according to early markets have a second-row draw to contend with.
The barrier draw has made for an interesting colts and geldings final, which is race four of the night.
Both heat winners have drawn poorly with Stormy Sanz in barrier seven and Rocknovertime in 13.
Sunday’s 10 race card in Hobart commences at 16:38 with the first two races currently listed for Sky Racing 2 with the last eight on Sky Racing 1.
Some Tasmanian pacers doing battle over the next few days at metropolitan venues include;
Melton – Saturday night
Race 8 Horse 9 Terryrama.
Race 10 Horse 7 Blingittothemax.
