THE pressure was on trainer Mark Ganderton when he saddled up seven-year-old mare Annie By Design at Spreyton yesterday.
He desperately wanted to win the Harcourts Wynyard (C1) Handicap for his grandmother Mae Best, who turns 90 tomorrow.
Mrs Best races Annie By Design with several members of her family, some of whom travelled from interstate to celebrate her birthday and watch the race.
Fortunately, the problem-plagued, lightly-raced mare didn't let them down, storming home to win for the second time in only six starts.
``I was going to run her at Mowbray but I decided to wait for this race because it coincided with the family celebrations,'' Ganderton said.
``When you try to do something like that it doesn't always work out but this time it has.''
Annie By Design's other owners are the trainer's wife Rae-Anne Ganderton, mother Geraldine Glover, sisters Danika Drinkwater and Sharee Hogan and close family friend Mick Scott.
Ganderton bred Annie By Design from a mare he also trained, Regal Design, but said she had been hindered by problems throughout her career.
``She's still got them - but the synthetic track has helped her,'' he said.
Annie By Design was well backed with the four fixed-odds operators fielding on yesterday's meeting, firming from $7.50 to start at $4.20.
Mouse is sweet: Owner-trainer Barry Goodrick was a bit short of the $7500 asking price when he saw The Sugar Mouse advertised for sale on the internet.
So he struck a deal with the Victorian mare's former owners - he and his partners would pay $5000 up front and the rest in 24 monthly payments.
``I can pay the rest off now,'' Goodrick declared after The Sugar Mouse made an impressive Tasmanian debut with a nine-length win in the Wynyard Couriers Maiden.
``She's paid for herself in one go.''
Goodrick said he had been told that The Sugar Mouse had ``a few issues'' that he'd need to sort out if she was going to fulfil her potential.
``She had a problem in her back end and, after she got here, I was told she might need a knee operation,'' the trainer said.
``But I got a second opinion and this time they said it was her feet not her knees so I've only been swimming her for the past 10 days.
``As a result, she's only 80 per cent right and I thought she might be short of a run.''
With that in mind, Goodrick asked jockey Kelvin Sanderson to take a sit in yesterday's 1000-metre race but The Sugar Mouse began so well that she was soon bowling along in front and her rivals never got near her.
Cup goes South: Short-priced favourite Mr Isaac gave punters a scare before scoring a well-deserved win in the $15,000 Hutton Water Cartage Wynyard Cup.
The Gary White-trained six-year-old snuck home by a nose from lightweight Alberts Son and jockey Stephen Maskiell could take most of the credit.
Maskiell gave the gelding a perfect run just off the pace and, after looking set for a comfortable win, had to lift him in the closing stages.
``I thought he was going to win by a length-and-a-half when he cruised up to them but, not long after, I thought I was in trouble,'' Maskiell said.
``He's one of those horses that doesn't like being put under pressure.
``The last time he won a race he got a soft lead and when he ran fourth in the Devonport Cup he was ridden `cold' at the back of the field.''
Mr Isaac was one of five southern-trained horses to win yesterday as the theory that locally-trained horses would always dominate on the new track went out the window.
The Charlie Goggin-Luella Meaburn partnership landed a treble with Argentogris, Talaq Downs and Wide Open Spaces while David and Scott Brunton won with There Were Roses.
With Longford-based Barry Goodrick and Victorian visitor Jarrod McLean (Youbolt) joining the party, it left only two races for the locals.
It was the first time Luella Meaburn has trained a treble since officially teaming up with her father and the in-form Talia Rodder rode all three winners.
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