In Brief
- Blake Pursell records the biggest win of his training career.
- Owner Barry Heawood gets his third Tasmanian Gold Cup winner.
- Pursell now sets sights on upcoming Group 3 Devonport Chase.
Blake Pursell recorded the biggest feature win of his training career when his talented chaser Sprint Gordon defeated a great field to salute in the Tasmanian Gold Cup Final in Hobart on Thursday night.
The black dog was sent to the boxes as the $2.90 favourite, once the lids flew open Sprint Gordon charged through to sit second behind Tah Matt as they headed into the top turn, receiving a dream rails run in transit.
He charged well clear in the straight to score by 2-1/2 lengths over Tah Matt and Sacred Shadow running 25.73s.
Pursell, who bases his training establishment at Brighton, says he was thrilled with the stellar performance.
“I’m very proud of the dog – his comeback from injury since the first run back from Victoria has been strenuous, though it’s very rewarding to see the dog back; he does possess high speed,” Pursell said.
“I thought his run in the heats last week was fantastic, when the draw came out for the final, I was concerned with Siberia drawn inside would be a problem, our bloke did well to overcome that issue.
The Spring Gun – Champagne Girl chaser has now won 13 races from 29 starts and $37,240 in stakes.
For prominent Tee Tree-based owner Barry Heawood it was his third recorded triumph in the great Tasmanian Gold Cup having previously raced Jenny’s Legacy (1991) and My Boy Speedy (2002).
“To have Barry (Heawood) as an owner has been a great association and I rang him straight after the race and he was over the moon – he does put in a lot into racing and deserves the result,” said Blake.
2020 has been a challenging year with a shutdown of the local racing industry, and Blake and his team have bounced back in great shape with his kennel having won 43 races since early January this year.
Pursell confirmed that Sprint Gordon will be aimed towards the upcoming Group 3 Devonport Chase.
“The plan will be to race the dog again in Hobart next Thursday then as long as he comes through the race sound, he will going into the chase heats; I should have a few runners for the series too,” he said.
Blake ended the night with a winning double with Paddy Lee scoring a narrow win earlier in the program.
Watch Sprint Gordon (7) take out the 2020 Tasmanian Gold Cup Final.