27 May 2019 | Shane Yates for Tasracing
Call Me Hector showed he’s ready to take his career further with a super run in the Bevan Lee’s Butchery Golden Mile in Launceston on Sunday night.
Oatland’s trainer-driver Matthew Cooper took the four-year-old Art Major – Lady Jillett Lombo gelding to the front at dispatch and was never headed.
“I was delighted with his run, he showed gate speed to hold out the early challenges and then had plenty in reserve for the sprint up the straight,” said Matthew.
“His first split was 27.8 seconds and he finished off in 28.9 seconds which gave him a 1.57 rate for the mile so that gives us a good base to work with going forward.”
Call Me Hector’s Golden Mile success took his career record to 10 wins from 27 starts, including two of three in Tasmania.
“I’m looking to take him through his grades during the winter months and have him ready for the big races, he has gate speed which is handy and high speed, he can go form cruising to flat-out in a stride or two so that acceleration is a big gun to have in your arsenal,” said Cooper.
“I was disappointed Ryley Major was scratched as it would have been good to see where we sit among the top-shelf pacers, my next task is to get him to the trials and work on him getting away from the stand which is going to be vital if we get to take on the topliners which I’m confident he will.”
With Call Me Julie seeing out her racing days in Victoria, under the care of Justin Campbell, before heading to the breeding barn at the end of the season, Matthew’s focus will be a recent addition to the stable.
“Training and driving Call Me Julie has just been a fantastic experience, she won a string of races for us and finished up being awarded the honour of Tasmanian Mare Of The Year, but Hector has the extra ping and I’m looking forward to seeing him over more ground in the future.”
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