In Brief
- Pires and Brunton commence where they left off in Hobart.
- First Derby win for both trainer and jockey.
- The combination land a treble through the quaddie.
It may be a brand-new track at Ladbrokes Park Elwick, but it was an old firm who made their mark with the trainer jockey combination of Scott Brunton and David Pires having a day to remember on Saturday.
The pair teamed up for the first three winners of Saturday’s quadrella headlined by a first ever win in the Schweppes Tasmanian Derby with a horse that was a maiden entering the race in Vamos Raffa ($10.00).
Friday’s scratching of Launceston Guineas winner Still A Star opened the race up, though the Anthony Freedman-trained Rogues Point ($1.45 fav) entered the race as a popular elect. That mattered little to Pires, who was able to settle the gelding closer in-running off a slow tempo, and he was far too strong late, powering away for a two-length victory.
“Had a lovely run throughout, the pace wasn’t on. I was able to be a lot closer than I had been in the Guineas and I was able to track froggy (Craig Newitt) around the corner on the favourite and he did the rest,” said an ecstatic Pires after the race.
The leading hoop has only returned to riding in recent months after a lengthy injury break, and despite tasting several feature successes prior to his injury, Saturday’s Derby win was his first in the race, as well as being the first ever Derby runner that Brunton has had.
“I’ve only just made my comeback and first meeting here to win a Derby, which is a race I haven’t won for my whole entire career it’s pretty special,” said Pires who followed the Derby result with wins aboard the well-backed pair Heavenly Light and Banstead.
The Derby win was the first for a Tasmanian trained horse since the Adam Trinder-trained Jerilderie Letter in 2016. Race favourite Rogues Point settled further back in the run than expected and was one-paced to the line finishing fourth, with the placings rounded out by another Victorian visitor Skyt ($7.00) and Argyle Beach ($6.00) in third.
Saturday’s eight-race program marked the return to racing on the $12.5 million-dollar redeveloped StrathAyr track and winners came from wide as well as the inside with track staff doing a fantastic job to produce such an even racing surface at its first real test.
Watch the replay of Vamos Raffa winning the Schweppes Tasmanian Derby.