22 August 2022 | Duncan Dornauf for Tasracing
Dukes Choice delivered an upset win when taking out the second heat of the Colts and Geldings division of the Cavalor Equine Sweepstakes in Hobart on Sunday night.
The gelded son of Vincent finished last of four in the opening heat on Tuesday, where he ran his individual mile in 2m 4.2s, but was able to outsprint $1.24 favourite Heres Henry in Sunday’s event, with the winning mile recorded in a sedate 2m 7.0s.
Trainer Zeke Slater explained that the pacer, who was placed in the first two-year-old race of the season, has been a touch frustrating for connections, but were rewarded with the pacer’s first win, and in the process, they collected their $10,000 Tasbred bonus.
“He has been frustrating, every time I thought I had him right he would beat us, or we would have a hiccup with him.
“His first trial back from a break, he trialled super and then he got a bad foot problem.
“I thought he was a moral when first-up this time in, but then he broke, and then we had the washout with the weather which probably didn’t suit him as I train out of stables, and he was out of the wet weather and couldn’t get out much in the lead up to that race, but there was no excuses last night, and he finally did everything right,” explained Slater.
Slater in discussions with reinsman Ricky Duggan made some gear changes on the pacer since his last start.
“For those that read the official gear changes, we took the Hidez Hood off him, which probably quieted him down too much last start, and put the blocks back on him,” said the trainer.
Slater believes his horse can win the final if things go his way.
“He can win the final as he has electric speed, but it will come down to luck in running, Nyack and Karalta Artemis are obviously the ones to beat.
It was an action-packed fillies heat where Iylac Pakaria was able to run down Julepe Sanz to score.
After viewing the stewards’ patrol films, a protest was lodged by Gareth Rattray, driver of Julepe Sanz, against the Mitch Ford-driven Iylac Pakaria, on the grounds of Iylac Pakaria racing inside a marker peg when entering the sprint lane.
The stewards dismissed the protest, stating in their report that they were satisfied that the filly did not gain an advantage to the detriment of any other runner.
The two Sweepstakes Finals will be held at the Trot into Spring race meeting on Saturday night 3 September in Hobart.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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