Bub priority over Dance
WHEN well-bred threeyear-old filly A Spanish Dance paced her way to an impressive win in the Tasmanian Oaks at Elwick on Saturday night one of her owners Leigh Barker was still recovering from the birth of his son Ned five hours earlier.
Barker was at the birth with his partner Nicole Shepherd and as soon as his son was born, Barker made sure Nicole was comfortable and he made a beeline for Elwick to watch his filly triumph in the Oaks. And he made it by the skin of his teeth.
The filly’s trainer Marc Butler was ecstatic after the race.
“The horse’s half-owner Leigh and his partner Nicole had more important things to attend to, but I’m glad that
Leigh was able to get to see the filly win,” Butler said.
A Spanish Dance (A Rocknroll Dance-Guernica) only arrived in Butler’s care in January after Barker and a group of friends purchased the filly from her breeder Brian Stanley for $8000.
From five starts for Butler and her new owners she has won four and there were excuses for her only unplaced outing. “I really like this filly because she doesn’t do a lot wrong and she is learning quickly,” Butler said.
“I stepped up her workload and changed her shoeing and it’s made a difference. She’s earned a spell and hopefully she can improve and go to the next level next time in.”
Since joining Butler’s stable the filly has earned $30,000 in stakes.
Cup winner Ryley Major will not contest the Easter Cup with his trainer-owner Rohan Hillier preferring to send his stable star for a well-deserved spell.
Ryley Major produced his best effort this time in to score an emphatic win in the $75,000 Group 2 Tasmania Cup last Saturday night to take his record this season to 12 wins from 13 starts with his only glitch a third in a Tasmania Cup heat.
“He has been up for a really long time and hasn’t really had a good break, so we’ll give him a good break and probably come back in six months’ time,” Hillier said.
Third placegetter in Saturday night’s Cup was 11-yearold Star Chamber from the Bianca Heenan stable.
The veteran, who won the Tasmania Cup in 2014, registered his third placing in the race, proving he is still up to racing at the top level.
“There’s not much around for him here unless we target the Easter Cup, but I’m more inclined to send him to Victoria for a couple of starts,” Heenan said. trainer Adrian
Duggan has a good eye for a bargain and his latest find, Shesa Tricky Bridge, produced a major result on Saturday. Shesa Tricky Bridge ($11) scored an effortless win in the George Johnson mares’ classic over 2579m with the trainer’s brother Ricky Duggan in the sulky.