Sandford-based reinsman Dylan Ford continued his excellent form in Launceston on Sunday night with another winning double including the feature race, the Tasmanian Horse Transport Show Cup, with Be Major Threat.
The gelded son of Art Major flew away from his 10m handicap to find the lead in the 2200m event, and after some soft early sectionals his rivals couldn’t run him down in a 56.4s last half-mile.
“It’s something he has always been good at (stepping away from the tapes), it seems to put him in a winnable position, but sometimes he has had some bad luck as he has begun too well,” said Ford post-race.
“I wanted to bowl along.
“The first 300m was real quick, and then I grabbed hold of him but it didn’t feel like we were going that slow.
“Harjeet didn’t come up and look at me, so when he got to the death, we crawled to the post and I was just going to make him chase me from there,” recalled the winning reinsman.
Be Major Threat has now had 12 starts back from a New South Wales campaign, and Ford believes the trip away has benefited the seven-year-old.
“He has never been a horse to go in front but since he has come back from Sydney, he can do a bit more work early in his races, we launched off the mobile a few starts ago and I thought it was the best run he had put in,” explained Ford.
The pacer will now be aimed at the state’s features, with the Tassie Golden Apple the first of those, the first heat scheduled for 13 November.
“He will go to our features. He may get 20 metres now, so we may have to drive him differently.”
Ford was also successful with All For Dave, who took out the opening event on the card, which saw several three-year-old Sires’ Stakes prospects go around.
The gelded son of Stonebridge Regal was well supported late in betting and justified his market move, racing outside the leader for the final lap to record his third career win at start six.
“He is a really nice horse, but he has a few tricks.
“Once he starts steering properly and gets through the corners better, he will make a nice horse,” said the winning reinsman.
Brighton trainer Tammy Langley prepared both winners.
