Promising three-year-old Electric has notched up his maiden win in the Bowermans Commercial Furniture Plate (1250m), despite a protest lodged against the gelding.
The son of Kermadec and second placegetter Barrichello bumped on numerous occasions close to the finish line, with Electric first past the post, before James Mcdonald fired in a protest against the winner.
The protest was dismissed by the stewards and the results standing, with Electric holding on to his 0.19 length victory.
Co-trainer Wayne Hawkes said we won’t see the best of the three-year-old until the autumn of next year.
“He’s got a bright future and you know what, I reckon next autumn we’re going to see the absolute, absolute best of him,” he said.
“He was a very, very expensive yearling and we loved him the first day we saw him and thought we had to buy him.
“What you want and what you get at the yearling sales are quite often two different things.
“But when you can buy what you want, and they come out and win on their second race start, it’s always pleasing.
“He’s a promising horse going somewhere.”
The pace was fast early as most of the small field looked to take up a forward position in the event.
Tommy Berry was able to cross to the lead and slow the pace down, giving Electric a chance to catch his breath for the final hoorah.
The Team Hawkes-trained runner needed every ounce of breath he had, battling with Barichello from the 200m point, with Electric just getting his nose down on the line to win in a photo finish.
Berry was happy with the way the race panned out, although believes the son of Kermadec will be better suited to a more genuine tempo.
“If I didn’t work so much early, I probably wouldn’t have asked him to come back to me and get that breather, because I think he’s a better horse when he’s close to his top,” he said.
“He got into a nice rhythm and travelled quite nicely.
“He got to get a bit of a breather and he was nice and strong late.
“He’ll definitely go on from this.”
King Of Hearts was an eye-catching run first-up for the Craig Carmody stable.
After bombing the start the gelding struck traffic twice in the run home, weaving through rivals late to record a three-quarter length third.
