Veteran harness racing trainer Wayne Rattray is no stranger to having a good horse in his care with Twilight Town the latest to make his mark for the Bridport-based mentor.
Twilight Town notched his fifth win from his past seven starts when he defied an awkward second-row draw to power his way an impressive win in a C1-C2 race over 2200 metres in Launceston on Sunday night
Twilight Town was driven confidently from the outset with driver John Walters weaving a passage through the field early to find the front with just over a lap remaining.
Once in front the four-year-old gelded son of Bettors Delight settled well for Walters and when the driver released the reins in the home straight Twilight Town burst clear and hit the line over seven metres clear of Enchanted Heart with Luke Thomas a close-up third.
“It’s taken a lot of work to get him to where he is today and we’ve still got a bit to do.”
“He’s a lovely horse off the track but he’s still learning how to race.”
Twilight Town was purchased by Rattray from an advertisement in an Australian national harness racing newspaper for a modest sum but he didn’t expect anything special.
“He’s very well bred – his sister won over $200,000 – so I knew that there had to be some reason why they were selling him,” Rattray said.
Twilight Town’s half-sister is Jazaam (x Christian Cullen) that is Keep It Hot’s first foal to race.
Jazaam has won 24 of her 86 starts as well as 32 minor placings for over $231,415 in stakes and she clocked a best mile rate of 1m.53.06 when she won a $20,000 feature mares race over 1720 metres at Tabcorp Park Melton in March 2010.
“If the horse was going as good then as he is now I wouldn’t have been able to buy him,” he said.