VICTORIAN trainer Michelle Mallia-Magri dedicated her first Group 1 triumph to her father Charlie Mallia after her kennel star Blackalls Boss outgunned local star Rewind to win the $106,000 Tattsbet Hobart Thousand over 461 metres at Tattersall’s Park last night.
Rewind looked set to atone for his narrow defeat in last year’s Thousand final when he sped clear after finding the lead and with race favourite Walk Hard being checked and bumped from pillar to pos on his way to the top turn.
The huge crowd roared as rewind turned for the lone run home in front but Blackalls Boss was stalking him and when the leader left the rail Mallia-Magri’s dog dived back to the rail and eventually gained the upper hand and went on to defeat Rewind by a length with the luckless Walk Hard over two lengths away third.
“I don’t know how to describe how I’m feeling at the moment,” an emotional Mallia-Magri said after the race.
“I feel for Rewind because he is a champion dog in his own right but I am very happy to have won this race – it means so much to me.”
The trainer said she kept her maiden surname in her title (Mallia) so that if ever she had a dog that won a big race her father would get some recognition.
“If I had have given away my maiden name then my Dad would have had no more recognition.””
“I wouldn’t be standing here today and have the knowledge I have today if it wasn’t for my father.”
Blackalls Boss has been a revelation since joining the Mallia-Magri kennel.
He recently won the Group 2 Shepparton Cup and finished second in theGeelong, and Ballarat cups.
His owner Vince Tullio described Blackalls Boss as a “marvel”.
Listen to what owner Vince Tullio had to say about Blackalls Boss’ Hobart Thousand win – click here