The Storm Inside gelding Zeus Immortal ($21) broke through for his first win when scoring in the Fehlbergs Produce Sprint Lane Pace (1609m) for the Two Year Old Maidens in Hobart on Friday night.
Starting from the second row, reinsman Jacob Duggan had the pacer three-back the inside before leading up the one-wide line for the final 1200m of the race.
The pacer proved too tough late to score by a head over Isal Athena ($1.50 fav) with Bolt Of Cobargo a further 1.2m away third in a time of 1:59.4s.
Trainer Adrian Duggan was pleased with the pacers efforts and explained that the gelding had let himself down in the early parts of the score up in previous runs.
“It was a really good effort.
“It was probably a bit unexpected, but it wasn’t seeing him doing everything right early.
“It was a big run last start after missing the kick. We changed things up a bit, and he had to go back to the trials. I got the clerk of the course to go with him at the trials, and he was all good.
“He won his trial by 21 metres and ran home in 28.6 (seconds) on Monday. Then, he went back there last night, thinking that if he ran up to his trial and the run before, he would be in the mix.
“He is so good at home. It’s only when he gets to the races that he gets a bit above himself and fired up, so you have to take him to the races to iron it out. You can do all that circling stuff at home and he doesn’t miss a beat,” explained Adrian.
The pacer was bred by Nathan Rockliff, who races the pacer in partnership with Chris and Annette Rockliff, Graeme and Judy Moore.
“Nathan won a service fee to Betterthancheddar in a BOTRA draw, but he went back to the states that year, so they swapped Betterthancheddar for The Storm Inside. He put Forever Ours to him, and that’s how we got her,” Adrian said.
Adrian also confirmed that the pacer will be aimed at the upcoming Dandy Patch series but will send the pacer to the paddock if he shows he has had enough of the preparation.
