James Dean was an emergency for the New Zealand Cup just over two years ago and while a bit of water has gone under the bridge since then, on Monday night in Hobart the pacer was back in the winners list taking out the Pauly’s Pizza New Norfolk Pacing Cup.
The recent Ben Yole stable addition was inclined to over race in fourth position in the early stages of the 3060-metre event before gaining a one-out one-back trail over the final stages.
Driver Troy McDonald made his move at the 600-metre mark on the seven-year-old gelded son of Santanna Blue Chip who scored an easy 10.9 metres over Black Ops and last years winner Finn Mac Kee in 2m 4.1s.
“Grant Dixon sent him down in good order, and I hadn’t had the horse long, so I have to thank him very much,” said trainer Ben Yole post race.
“Troy gave him a fantastic drive, and it is good for him to get a feature win as he is a big part of my team,” added Yole.
Driver Troy McDonald was impressed with the win.
“That was an extremely impressive win, he over-raced a bit over the long distance, but he did enjoy a lovely trip,” said McDonald.
Ignatius bounced back into the winner’s list in the Toreace Flying Mile.
Trainer-driver Todd Rattray elected to restrain the gelding from his wide draw before racing three-wide over the final lap to score by 3.2 metres over Ryley Major in 1m 54.7s, just 0.4s outside the track record.
“I didn’t pull the blinds or earplugs, but he was getting over Ryley which was handy as he is always hard to beat,” said Rattray on TasracingTV after the race.
“He will probably have a stint in New South Wales or Victoria now, I’m just not sure, but we will see what happens,” added the trainer-driver.
Rohan Hillier had a night out driving a treble on the six-race card.
He combined with trainer Conor Crook to score in the Art Meeker Memorial Matron Stakes with Gone And Forgotten and then again in the E C Plunkett Memorial with Lord Stark.
Hillier trained and drove the final race winner Heza Sport who won his second race in his last three outings.
