By Greg Mansfield, The Examiner
A WELL-JUDGED drive on favourite Lugovoi Leis in the final heat enabled Amy Crossland to snatch victory in the Bullock Consulting Youngbloods Series at Mowbray on Sunday night.
Crossland, 20, was competing in the junior driver competition for the first time and also the last, as she is now living in Victoria and will be ineligible next season.
She needed to win on Lugovoi Leis to take the lead on the points table and drove an intelligent race to get the Barrie Rattray-trained three-year-old home by a neck over the fast-finishing Light The Lantern (James Johnson) with The Musician (David Medhurst) five metres away third.
“I was confident going into the race because, on form, he looked a class above his opposition,” Crossland said.
“Barrie told me that the horse had a nice sprint and to just let him roll into it. In the end, I didn’t even have to pull his ear plugs”.
“He was a gem to drive, a real gentleman”.
Crossland allowed Lugovoi Leis to drop out to last early from a wide draw and eased three wide into the clear with about 900 metres to go.
However, she didn’t rush forward, following Rattray’s instructions to save the gelding for a short, sharp dash at the leaders.
Earlier in the night, Braydon Withers also gave a polished display on another short-priced favourite to win the fifth heat with Enchanted Heart.
Withers sat one-out, two back on the Grant Hodges-trained three-year-old and, as most punters expected, he didn’t have any troubling rounding up his opposition.
Crossland won the Youngbloods title with 42 points, ahead of James Johnson and David Medhurst on 40 and Brendan Gebel and Withers on 39.
End.