Magician ($1.28 fav) added Sunday night’s $20,000 Dakin Refrigeration Golden Mile to his resume in track record time in Launceston.
The gelded son of Sweetlou pulled out all stops late to score in 1:54.1s, taking 0.3s off the previous record held by Call Me Hector in 2020 and the time equalled Sunny Sanz’s state record that he set in 2022 in Hobart.
Trainer-driver Todd Rattray had Magician positioned one-out and three-back before racing three wide for the final 1000m of the race
Miss Papenhuyzen ($7) was a half-head away in second position, with Blitzern ($5) a further half-head away in third, with those two horses also breaking the previous track record.
“He did it the hard way on a cold night. It’s a big effort,” said Rattray post-race.
“He got going when Miss Papenhuyzen got beside me (100m out). He is a funny horse like that. But he always seems to put his head in front just on the line, so I’m pretty pleased about that.
“I think he is a better horse than two or three months ago. He has found a bit of speed and is learning how to race a bit better. So, hopefully, there are better races for him to come.
“I think there is another race here in a couple of weeks, and then he will probably leave for Sydney,” the trainer-driver explained.
The win completed a training and driving double for Rattray, who won with Nyack ($1.05 fav) in the opening heat of the Tasfreight Raider Stakes.
The second heat was won by De Goey ($1.05 fav), who resumed from a spell with a hard-fought win.
The Castles family continued their good form in recent weeks.
John Castles trained the Gareth Rattray-driven Spot Ruler ($6.00), who won the Collins Homes Granny Smith Prelude.
He also trained Octagonise (1.30 fav) to victory earlier in the night, who was driven by Charlie Castles.
Charlie also trained and drove former New South Wales pacer Maddis Tiger ($3.90) to victory.
