Wesley lord of manor
SPREYTON trainer Glenn Stevenson celebrated his first feature race win when his gallant six-year-old I’m Wesley stormed home to win the $100,000 Listed Newmarket Handicap over 1200m in Launceston last night.
I’m Wesley broke the track record in Launceston at his previous start and punters warmed to the feat by backing him in from $6 to start the $2.80 favourite ahead of Lord Da Vinci, who drifted to $3.20.
Former Tasmanian apprentice Raquel Clark partnered the winner and had him in the top position one-out with cover just off the leader Gee Gee Red Prince.
When the leader kicked clear it looked like he might have stolen a winning margin, but when Clark called on I’m Wesley for the supreme effort he dug deep and powered home to defeat Lord Da Vinci by more than a length with Gee Gee Red Prince hanging on for third in front of stablemate Geegees Doublejay.
“This is the best night of my life,” an emotional Stevenson said. “I set this horse for the race a long time ago and to have actually done it is an incredible feeling.
“I am so proud of the horse because he has had his share of issues to contend with, but he keeps on stepping up to the plate and hitting home runs.
“We’ll take a breath and look at what we can go to next, but I’m sure there are some nice races for him during the Tasmanian summer carnival.”
Lord Da Vinci was game in defeat as he was forced to cover extra ground from a wide draw and Gee Gee Red Prince proved he will be competitive in feature races in the coming months. MICK Burles trained his first winner in 18 months when his three-year-old filly Clean Acheeva broke her maiden status impressively over 1400m.
Clean Acheeva (Siggy Carr) was having her fifth start for the season, but ridden back in the field and wide with cover proved to be a winning move by the rider.
“That’s my first winner for a long time and only my second since The Cleaner won the Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes in 2015,” Burles said.
“It’s great to be back in the winner’s circle and I think this filly has the potential to win a lot more races.
“I’ve only got one other three-year-old in work and hopefully he can be as good as this filly.”
Carr said the filly was always going to win. “She hung out and did a few things wrong at her past two so I wanted to let her get back and find her feet and when I exposed her late and she had the leader to chase to the line she finished if off really well,” she said.