Sydney trainer James Cummings was rewarded for two good decisions when Goldolphin-owned Cossetot won the $150,000 Tasmanian Derby in Hobart on Friday.
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Firstly, he recommended that the global racing empire have its first Tasmanian runner and, secondly, that they book the top local jockey.
Craig Newitt timed his run to perfection on Cossetot as the $2.40 favourite swept to the lead in the straight and went on to score by 1-¾ lengths from a gallant Glass Warrior with heavily-backed Victorian Twilight Run a half length away third.
Newitt admitted he had been a little worried when Twilight Run dashed to a clear lead rounding the home turn.
“It gave me a bit of a scare but my horse was really strong late,” the jockey said.
“To win my first Tasmanian Derby is a big thrill, especially with Godolphin’s first runner in the state.”
Cossetot settled third-last in the field on 10.
“The horse hadn’t raced beyond 1550m so I had to ride him quiet,” Newitt said.
“But he was so laid back – I was able to pinch three or four lengths down the back without even moving on him.”
Cossetot was having only his fifth start but Cummings said the trip to Tasmania was a risk worth taking.
“He’s shown good potential in shorter races and the derby was a good test for him,” the trainer said.
“He was in form so we thought it was worth taking it on.”
STILL LIFE IN WIRE
Trainer Scott Brunton thought that his class mare Life On The Wire was “the forgotten runner’’ going into $150,000 Bow Mistress.
But, if she was forgotten, it wasn’t by punters.
Life On The Wire was sensationally backed from $6 to $3.50 in the TAB fixed-odds market before overcoming an outside barrier and wide run to beat dead-heaters Twitchy Frank and Speedonova.
The win was another major achievement for comeback jockey Jason Maskiell who finished the meeting with a treble.
Brunton said that Life On The Wire had been “a fantastic mare for a great bunch of owners” since his father David bought her at the Adelaide yearling sale.
She has now won eight races from only 17 starts for $359,000 in stakes.
Brunton said that Life On The Wire had taken a while to get right after one run in Victoria in September when she was found to be in season.
The five-year-old will now head to the $150,000 Vamos Stakes at Mowbray on February 27, a race she won easily last season.
PLENTY OF PLUCK
Brunton also won the $30,000 Carbine Club Plate with talented filly Lady Pluck.
“She was probably vulnerable today being first-up over 1200m but she’s very good,” the trainer said.
Jockey Siggy Carr said Lady Pluck “wasn’t 100 per cent at home on the shifty ground”.
“I was also in the three-wide line where the going was a bit inferior but the horse’s ability got her there,” Carr said.