There were some anxious moments but Brisbane Racing Club board member David Dawson has claimed his first Saturday metropolitan class winner at Doomben after 30 years of trying.
Dawson part owns Tarzan ($3.80) who was a clear leader with 100m to travel in Saturday’s Open Hcp (1050m) but lightweight Sweet Repeat ($10) lunged at him on the line.
In the end Tarzan won by a short half head with Love and Lies ($8) a length back, third.
“I thought he’d got beaten. I’ve owned a lot of horses but have never had a Saturday city winner,” Dawson said.
“Tarzan won a $60,000 race at Caloundra at his previous start but the boys wouldn’t give it to me as a metropolitan class win.”
Trainer Stuart Kendrick has done a great job with Tarzan who ran a course record 56.13 seconds on that occasion.
“He has run 59.65 seconds today which is just outside the course record (59.19). So it is obvious he is holding his form,” Kendrick said.
“For a horse which has had a tie-back (throat operation) and foot issues he has done a really good job.”
Kendrick will now look for another short course race for Tarzan in coming weeks.
A rare trip to Brisbane from the Gold Coast for jockey Scott Galloway paid off when Manaya won the a Class 6 (1200m).
Manaya won the Woodland Stakes at Scone at her first start and has performed in some handy races without winning since.
She was a well beaten fifth at Doomben first up on a wet track but atoned with a strong win on Saturday.
The $3.80 favourite continued a trend of fast times, clocking 1m 18.34secs for the 1350m which would win most open company races in Brisbane.
Trainer Michael Costa wasn’t at Doomben but Galloway said Manya was capable of winning in better company.
“She has a few quirks and can be hard to handle in the barriers. She also likes to kick anything that gets near her but she was on her best behaviour,” Galloway said.
Tegan Harrison continued her good return to the Tony Gollan camp with an all-the-way win on Ignite The Light ($7) in the Class 3 Plate (1200m).
Harrison was Gollan’s number one rider for a couple of seasons but has been riding for other stables of late.
