Keayang Fitzy ($6.50) overcame a 10m handicap and some early work in the race to claim the $20,000 7BU Burnie Cup in front of a large crowd at the Wivenhoe Paceway in Burnie on Sunday.
Driver Nathan Ford got the six-year-old gelding away well from the second line of the 10m handicap and avoided some horses that galloped away to settle third on the first turn.
Ford drove a confident race down the straight the first time before pushing on to find the lead near the 2250m point.
From there, Keayang Fitzy dictated affairs in a lead time of 91.5s (2.1s faster than last year’s cup) before running quarters of 32.8s, 33.3s, 30.4s and 28.2s to win in a mile rate of 2:04.3s, defeating Gordans Bay ($13) by 8.4m with The Chancer ($8.00) 2.5m away third.
“We are delighted,” said winning trainer Wayne Yole after the win.
“He is a nice horse, and that’s why we purchased him. He was low in grade when we bought him, and we thought he would go through the grades, and that is exactly what he has done.
“He has had a couple of hard runs, and Friday was a hard run as well, but that topped him off for this.
“When Nathan (Ford) first drove him, he said he had a bit of bottom to him, and he proved that again today,” the trainer added.
Yole indicated that a tilt at another North-West Cup is on the cards.
“I will chat to Steve (Wyles, owner), but I would say the Devonport Cup (to be held in Launceston next month) is his next main aim. He may have a run in between.”
The trainer was also more excited than his Cup win last year.
“A lot of the family and the grandkids were here today. It was a big thrill for them, too.
“I think this a better achievement than last year, as he is a class horse, and it’s nice to see class horses win good races, Dazzle Me (who Wayne trained to win last year’s Cup) is a nice horse but isn’t the same league as this horse,” Yole said.
Yole ended the day with a winning treble, scoring with Mach Angelo ($5) and Oneofthelads ($7.50).
Tammy Langley has moved to the top of the state trainers title, and Dylan Ford leads the drivers premiership after the first 19 days of the new racing season. The combination won four of the eight races on the Burnie card.
Their winners were Pistol Queen ($3.70 fav) , Our Arabella ($1.90 fav), Diamondsnblue ($1.45 fav) and Just Follow Me ($6).
A new track record for the 2180m mobile start distance was set in the opening race when the Hannah Van Dongen-driven Mikiyoursofine ($14) stopped the clock in a mile rate of 2:01.0s, taking 0.2s off the previous record that Sweet Amour set in Febuary 2023.
A qualifying trial was held prior to the meeting with an unofficial track record for the 2180m trip.
Hazewillrev led all the way to win in an impressive mile rate of 2:00.1s.
