EMOTIONS ran high after local outsider Star Chamber upset the hot favourite in the $40,000 Tasmania Cup in Hobart yesterday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Trainer-driver Nathan Ford and his father Scott, a former top reinsman, both struggled to hold back the tears as they talked about Star Chamber’s barnstorming win over Victorian visitor Im Corzin Terror and pacemarker Blue Pointer.
‘‘This is my biggest win as a trainer and a driver – this race means a lot to me,’’ Nathan Ford said.
‘‘This horse hasn’t stopped improving since I got him (from New South Wales) and I think he’ll keep getting better.’’
Ford intends setting Star Chamber for the rich Hunter Cup in Victoria.
‘‘It’s a standing-start race and that’s his forte,’’ the trainer said.
‘‘His biggest asset is his high speed – if he gets the right run, he can unleash a brilliant turn of foot.’’
Star Chamber showed that yesterday.
He had trailed the leader Blue Pointer until Ford angled into the clear at the 400 metres.
At that stage, Im Corzin Terror, the $1.20 favourite, was challenging Blue Pointer and he eventually got the better of that horse in the home straight.
However he had no answer to Star Chamber’s finishing burst and the $23 chance sprinted clear to win easily, with Ford giving an A grade victory celebration.
Scott Ford, who drove countless feature race winners during a long career in the sulky, said watching his son win the Tasmania Cup was ‘‘my biggest thrill in harness racing’’.
‘‘It surpasses anything I did myself,’’ he said.
Nathan Ford co-owns Star Chamber with his partner Bianca Heenan, Jake Gillie and Josh Nelson.
It was the second year in a row that My Corzin Terror has been beaten in the race as a red hot favourite.
Motu Crusader, who beat him last year, raced outside the leader yesterday at his first run after a spell but was beaten a long way from home.
Rose on fire
SPITFIRE Rose made it a double for Tasmania in yesterday’s feature races when she upset Im Corzin Terror’s stablemate Tandias Bromac, also a hot favourite, in the $20,000 George Johnson.
The win was a welcome tonic for Bridport trainer Rohan Hadley who has not been enjoying the best of health.
Hadley is not driving at the moment and he handed the reins of Spitfire Rose to master Victorian reinsman Gavin Lang.
And, Lang did not let him down.
After he was left facing the breeze in the early stages of the race, Lang eventually found the one-out, one-back sit with 1500m to go.
Spitfire Rose ($10) then enjoyed a perfect run until the home straight when she quickly raced past Tandias Bromac and went on to record a very soft win.
Tandias Bromac ($1.50) had worked to the front with two laps to go and didn’t appear to have any excuses.
Another local, El Jays Magic, batted on well for third after trailing the leader.