05 October 2020 | Duncan Dornauf for Tasracing
At only his second try in open class racing, the Heath Woods-trained and driven pacer The Shallows claimed the $12,000 Tasmanian Horse Transport Show Cup in Launceston on Sunday night.
The gelded son of Shadyshark Hanover paced away safely to settle one-out and three-back before trainer-driver Heath Woods was able to get the pacer into clear racing room over the final 600 metres.
“Everything worked out very well, I managed to be in the running line early, Matty Cooper (driver of Call Me Hector) came around early and ensured a good tempo and then when Gareth (Rattray) came around on Scooterwillrev I managed to get onto his back and he managed to get me a fair way into the race and my bloke was able to do the rest,” explained the winning trainer-driver about the 1.6-metre victory over Proficient and Lip Reader.
The $3.80 race favourite Ignatius finished eighth from his 30-metre handicap.
The mile rate for the 2200-metre trip was a slick 1m 59.72s with the last half mile run in 57.20s.
It was the first standing start try for The Shallows at his 26th career start and Woods believes the pacer will take benefit from the run with his standing start manners.
“He just dwelled a fraction at the start but then once when he hit his straps, he was right, it will just take him a couple of runs and he will learn what it is all about,” Woods said.
It was the 12th career win for The Shallows and the win takes his national rating to 87, meaning he will have to race in open class races in the state over the next few months.
“He seems like he has pulled up well, I will wait and see where we go next, but I reckon we will head towards the Danbury Park Cup,” said Woods.
The main aim is the $30,000 Tassie Golden Apple in December, with a feature race list for the 2020 season for the state yet to be publicly released and there is no desire from the stable to send the pacer across Bass Strait.
“If he ever went away, we would want to take him ourselves and logistically that is hard at the moment, when there is the money on offer at the moment there isn’t much sense going too far away from home,” explained Woods.
It was a handy payday for connections of the two first race winners with Laurens Runner and Iden Gorgeous.
The win saw the pacers take home the first prize cheque from the two $10,000 prizemoney races, plus a $10,000 first win Tasbred bonus.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
