Magician ($2.25 fav) claimed his third consecutive $20,000 Launceston feature event when overcoming a 20m handicap to score in the June edition of the Launceston Discretionary (2200m) in Launceston on Sunday night.
Trainer-driver Todd Rattray got the pacer away safely in the standing start event to settle one-out and seven-back before leading up the three-wide line for the final 1300m before the five-year-old gelding drew clear over the concluding stages to score by 1.7m, over Maebee ($18) and Miss Papenhuyzen ($6).
The mile rate of the 2200m was 1:59.8s.
Magician has now won 14 of his 32 career starts, with the win being his first in a standing start event.
The win completed a training double for Todd, who prepared All About Sadie ($13) for her maiden victory in race two, with Todd’s father, Barrie, taking the winning drive.
McDonough and Tonkin have a night out
Visiting Victorians Allan McDonough and Clayton Tonkin dominated the program.
Tonkin trained 5 1/2 winners, all of which McDonough drove.
Their 1/2 win came with three-year-old filly Waterfront ($1.14 fav), who dead-heated with last season’s two-year-old colt and gelding of the year Smooth Machete ($6.50).
Their other winners included last season’s Listed Brisbane APG Graduates winner Balboa Rock ($1.55 fav), Zahra Lou ($1.08 fav), who is undefeated after three starts, comeback pacer Adapt ($1.45 fav) won first up from a 1616-day break from the track, multiple Group 1 placegetter Renewal ($1.12 fav) and lightly raced three-year-old Showsomejoy ($1.07 fav).
McDonough also trained the first race winner, Billys Tiger Khan ($1.10 fav), which gave him 6 1/2 winners on the card.
Officially, harness racing records a dead heat as a win for premiership standings which sees Tonkin in seventh spot on the state’s trainers title with 11 wins from 12 runners while McDonough is seventh on the state’s drivers premiership with 17 wins from 33 Tasmanian drives.
Several wagering service providers offer “Fav out” markets, and despite five horses starting under $2 in those markets, with Smooth Machete’s dead heat win being the only one successful.
Rachel all smiles
Kivik has proven to be a bargain buy for Frankford-based trainer Rachel Williams.
Williams purchased the pacer after he had three trials in the 2019-2020 season, and on Sunday night, he won his 13th race at his 72nd start, and in doing so, became the first pacer she has trained and owned to have won over $100,000 in stake earnings.
Driver Brodie Davis gave the $61 chance an economical run four-back on the pylons before weaving into the clear around the home turn, where he finished off best to score in a blanket finish with 5.2m separating the first five placings.
Williams said she had been considering retiring Kivik but would now likely press on with his current preparation.
