18 January 2021 | Duncan Dornauf for Tasracing
Ryley Major added the Group 3 Hardings Hotmix Devonport Pacing Cup to his glowing resume in Devonport on Sunday night, where last season’s Tasmania Cup winner easily overcome his 30 metre back mark in the 3020-metre event.
Beginning brilliantly as he always does, Ryley Major quickly made up his handicap before trainer-driver Rohan Hillier got the gelded son of Art Major around the field to take up the lead with 1900 metres to travel with ease.
Hillier was then able to set a moderate tempo for the top-level pacers running the first quarter of the final mile in 32.2s, and he then recorded sectionals of 32.2s, 31.3s, 29.4s and 29.8s on his way to a 5.5-metre win.
“He has done a super job tonight, to come off 30 (metres) and make a mid-race move and he still felt really strong on the line,” said Hillier post-race to Matt Reid on TasracingTV’s Live Stream coverage.
“I went out with no plans, to come off 30 metres in a full field it is hard to make plans, I decided to go, and I was happy to get to the breeze, but they slackened the pace, so I decided to have a go for the front, and once we got there we were always going to be hard to beat,” explained Hillier.
With a host of options interstate, Hillier is happy to keep the pacer in Tasmania.
There is a host of options including the Tasmania and Easter Cups in March and April.
“We will just keep poking around every second week here in Tassie, he isn’t getting any faster, he is probably getting slower, but he is doing a super job for what he is,” said the trainer-driver about the eight-year-old.
The mile rate off the 30 metres was 2m 4.3s, with Ryley Major joining Pachacuti (2017), Star Chamber (2015), Gold Label (1995) and Good Town (1993) as the only horses to win the Cup off a handicap further than 30 metres.
A protest lodged by Mark Yole on the fourth placegetter, Tisu Spirit, against the driver of the second placegetter, Be Major Threat (Dylan Ford), for interference near the 2700 metre mark was upheld, which resulted in the third placegetter Lip Reader being promoted to second to give Hillier the training quinella.
“To cop a 20-metre handicap with him was pretty tough on him, but over the next three or four months we could see him winning a race like the Easter Cup,” said Hillier.
There were two $12,000 features on the card including the Ladbrokes Mares Incentive which was taken out by nine-year-old mare Pink Ponder who was one of six winners on the card for Ben Yole.
Pink Ponder driven by Mark Yole sat back in the field off a solid tempo and was too good late in what was the survival of the fittest late with the last quarter ran in 32.7s in the 2297 metre event where the mile rate was 2m 2.1s.
The Yole stable also claimed the Jeremy Rockliff MP Coastal Pacing Thousand with the Conor Crook driven Proficient.
It was a tough effort by the eight-year-old gelding who settled one-out and three-back before gaining a three-wide cart up over the final 100 meters of the event.
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