French import Used To Me made his long awaited Australian debut in the Ted Manton Memorial Trotters Handicap at Bendigo last night, and it was a winning start.
Trained by Anton Golino and driven by Greg Sugars, Used To Me stepped cleanly from his 20-metre handicap in the 2150-metre race before making a three-deep move from four-back the running at the bell.
Class prevailed at the finish with Used To Me cruising past the early pacesetters and recording a 4.3-metre win, Sugars allowing him to coast to the line virtually untouched.
“He did what he had to do,” Sugars said.
“It was his first time at the stand conditions and he handled that well.”
Used To Me was granted an international invitation to contest the 2015 Great Southern Star before injury scuppered his preparation.
Whether or not the now eight-year-old would be up to that level after recovering from injury remains to be seen and Sugars said the team was “taking it one race at a time, at this stage”.
“I’m sure they’ll be hopeful of getting more wins and competing in better races than last night, but the important thing at this stage is he’s back on track.”
Given Used To Me’s journey back to the racetrack Sugars admitted to feeling some relief after last night’s win.
The stallion’s winning mile rate was 2:01.2 with the last half-mile completed in 59.7secs.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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