Trainer David Harrison lost the first race in the last stride and then made amends when Just Envy Her scored by a length in the second.
In the first sprint over 1000m it was a battle between champion jockey Paul Harvey and promising apprentice Joseph Azzopardi -with the latter prevailing.
Harvey sent favourite Benito to the front whereas Azzopardi was happy to drop Recode back to last before flooding home in the concluding stages.
Trainer Adam Durrant said it was a perfect ride. “Recode is a bit tricky to ride and you have to have patience with him. He doesn’t have more than a 400m kick so you can’t use him early, he has to be held up for a final run.”
Durrant said the eight year old had never worked better than last Tuesday despite the fact he was now in the veteran class. “Recode has now won well at his last two starts” the trainer said. It was the chestnut’s eighth win from 49 starts.
After seeing Benito go down in the first race it was a gleeful stable apprentice Renee Forrest that had Harrison smiling almost as much as her after the second 100m sprint.
Forrest was happy to surrender the early lead on Just Envy Her to You Will Be Queen before moving to lead at the 200m mark. ” She only has a short sprint but I thought I had it won at the 200m,” Forrest said. Marchand and Lord Balthazar filled the places.
Apprentice Lucy Warwick and Zarantz continued on their winning way making it four straight wins for the promising Lindsey Smith trained galloper. It was an emphatic last to first victory in the Westspeed Stayers Bonus Handicap (2100m). Zarantz was simply too strong for Paseo Del Prado and Gold Broker in the run home.
Some compared Lucy to “doing a Danny Miller” by charging forward from the rear down the back of the course. However Smith said she was more like her father, Justin, at the Trots, coming from the rear to sit outside the leader before putting the opposition to the sword.
Smith said he would now tip Zarantz out for a spell. “He is showing signs of getting agitated so that is enough for now,” the trainer said.