WHEN trainer Rod Seymour and owner Paul Christian arrived at Tattersall’s Park in Hobart today they were quietly confident their handy stayer Another Lad Al would improve on recent efforts and be competitive in the Brighton Cup.
With Geegees Blackflash al the rage and deservedly installed as an odds-on favourite they were still confident their Ladoni gelding could fill a place at odds.
Much to their surprise some corporate bookies had Another Lad Al installed as the $101 rank outsider and offered up to $25 a place.
Those who were game enough to back against The Flash were rewarded because Another Lad Al, with Anthony Darmanin aboard, led his rivals a merry chase and held on to score by almost a length from Geegees Blackflash with another outsider Prom King a game third.
“We had a ,lot of trouble getting this horse right after he hurt his leg in a mishap with a fence,” Seymour said.
“We expected him to show decent form well before this but we just had to be patient.”
Connections are making no firm plans about targeting the two major cups during the Betfair Tasmanian Summer Racing Carnival.
“We are unsure where we’ll go with him, maybe the Tassie cups but we might also look at a 2800-metre race at Sandown later this month,” the trainer said.
It was the third leg of four winners for in-form jockey Darmanin who also scored aboard Crib Point for Terry Evans, Debauche for Scott Brunton and Shah Deimos for Kath Kennedy.