Winter target for import

TRAINER Glenn Stevenson plans to make the most of regular racing back on the Devonport synthetic track and he says his recent stable acquisition High Maintenance can be the star of the winter racing program.

High Maintenance ($2.40 favourite) made it back-toback wins on the synthetic when he powered home to easily take out the Kevin Sharkie Maiden-Class One over 1880m.

The former Victorian gelding settled fourth for stable apprentice Codi Jordan and travelled well while Signal Hill ($9.50) set the speed with Judge Burns ($2.80), also prepared by Stevenson, content to slot in behind the leader.

When the pace slackened 600m from home, Jordan set her charge alight and so quickly did he join the leader, the rider thought she may have exposed the gelded son of Zoffany too early.

But the apprentice need not have worried as High Maintenance kept finding in the home straight and won as he liked.

“I didn’t want to lead because he has a tendency to get a bit lost in front, so we dropped into a nice spot off a reasonable tempo,” Jordan said.

“I was swinging off him most of the time but when I had to switch off the heels of Judge Burns, we made our move at the 600m and at the top of the straight I thought I had hit the button early, but he just kept on finding because his fitness is spot-on.”

Stevenson said the gelding could continue to race in benchmark races over the trip and get in with not too much weight with Jordan’s twokilogram claim.

“He is probably in the right spot down here (Tasmania) at this time of the year, so I’m looking forward to seeing how far he can go, through the winter months.”

Jordan made it wins in successive races when she outrode her rivals to win the Birdcage Tavern BM66 Handicap over 1880m aboard the Marion Dalco-trained Stinka.

THE Adam Trinder-trained Scribbler (Wordsmith-Princess Royale) broke her maiden status with an all-the-way win on the opening race on the nine-event card.

“It looked a nice race for Scribbler, and we will try to keep her over that sort of trip this time in,” Trinder said.