12 September 2022 | Duncan Dornauf for Tasracing
After being placed in two of his six starts, A Rocknroll Dance gelding Strezlecki Watusi appreciated a drop back to maiden grade to record his first win when scoring in the Bevan Lee’s Butchery Stakes in Launceston on Sunday night.
The four-year-old gelding was backed in from $3.10 into $1.80 on the Tasracing Official Price.
After a soft trip in front during the first lap, the four-year-old was always going to be hard to run down, scoring by 4.6m over Czarina and the unlucky Galaxy Dancer, not that far behind in third.
Winning reinswoman, Samantha Freeman, said post-race that the plan originally wasn’t to lead.
“I had no intention to come out hard, but the rest inside me had no speed.
“I was hoping something would come up and put a little bit of pressure on him as he relaxed too well in front,” Freeman said post-race.
“He probably should have picked up a win earlier, he probably cost himself the race in Hobart (last start) when he wanted to hang on the last corner.
“The ability has been there. He has just been a bit unlucky in a few races,” added the driver.
The gelding is owned and trained by his breeder Brooke Hammond, who Freeman has had a significant association with.
“I drove my first winner Know One for Brooke in 2013, and a few years after I stopped driving for a while as I preferred training them,” hence why Freeman had been out of the winner’s list as a driver since late 2019.
“I made a brief come back when Brian Stanley asked me to drive one of his horses, and then I was fortunate enough to pick up the drive on this horse,” said Freeman.
As is the case with many of the Hammond horses, the Strezlecki component of the name comes from Mt Strzelecki on Flinders Island, acknowledging their family connection to the island.
While the Watusi part of the name was suggested to Hammond by her friend Brian Stanley after a dance that was popular in the United States during the 1960s.
Given the sire of the pacer being A Rocknroll Dance, Stanley thought it was the perfect fit to the name when Hammond was filling out the form to naming the pacer.
The win also saw Strezlecki Watusi pick up his first Tasbred bonus, with some added delight for Brooke Hammond, with the announcement on Friday that Tasracing has increased the four-year-old and older component of the bonus to $10,000 to match that of the two and three-year-olds.
The announcement was a part of several increases announced, including an increase in driving fees to $70 per drive.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
