Major Secret reveals he is all class

VICTORIAN pacer Major Secret delivered everything expected of him to easily win the $50,000 Tasmania Cup in Hobart last night.

Major Secret settled just beyond midfield from his wide second-row draw but after travelling less than a lap his driver, international reinsman Sidney Van Den Brande, allowed the seven-year-old stallion more rein and he quickly rounded up the leaders and strolled to the front.

When Van Den Brande gave the gelding one flick with the whip he bounded clear and went on to score almost 19 metres from Roger Ramjet ($21) with No Spring Secrets ($34) over two metres away third and just in advance of Mister Lennox ($21). The Emma Stewart-trained gelding started the $1.22 favourite and many punters rated that a luxury price given what the gelding did to similar opposition at his previous start in Tasmania when an effortless winner of the City of Launceston Cup earlier this month.

Stewart did not attend the meeting but Van Den Brande said Major Secret was bound for some of the better country cups at home in Victoria.

“I have no doubt Emma [Stewart] has some big country cups in mind for the horse because he is very smart as he showed tonight,” Van Den Brande said.

“It was a very easy assignment for him tonight because once we rolled to the front he was never going to be seriously challenged.”

Major Secret covered the 2579 metres in 3m.11.4 for a mile rate of 1.59.4 but he ran home his last half (800m) in 56.6.

Van Den Brande has been in Australia for 15 months and for the past six months he has been aligned to the Emma and Clayton Stewart stable STREETSIDE CLASSIC caused a mini boilover when he powered home to defeat the odds-on favourite Inner Light in the Eric Reece Memorial final over 2090 metres.

Inner Light ($1.40 led from gate two while Streetside Classic took a trail on the fence from the pole position.

Postal Express ($84) worked around the field to face the breeze and put pressure on the leader to well into the back straight the last time with Streetside Classic’s driver Ricky Duggan urging his charge to stay in touch.

But instead of using the sprint lane in the home straight Duggan eased Streetside Classic wide to make his charge and the gelding did enough to grab victory over Inner Light with outsider Alpinion in third.