Just A Tribute swamps them in Thomas Lyons Stakes

Legendary trainer Gary White caused a mini boil over in the Listed Thomas Lyons Stakes at Hobart on Sunday when six-year-old Just A Tribute swamped them from last.

Last seen finishing third in Bm68 company, Just A Tribute was sent out one of the outsiders and spotted them all a start on straightening.

Enjoying the strong tempo set by Turk Warrior, Just A Tribute always travelled well under Carleen Hefel, before unleashing down the centre of the track.

“You can’t change a horse’s pattern, that’s just how he races,” Hefel said.

“I thought if he brought his best then he was going to do it, I had so much horse underneath me and he felt like he was really going to let down nicely.”

Gary White last won the Thomas Lyons Stakes in 2008 with Stuyvesant and was very happy to see their plan come off.

“I got to thank Eddie Hirsch [horse owner] and all my staff, they’ve done such a great job with this horse,” White said.

“Eddie Hirsch trusted us and I told him the plan and he said Gary have a throw at the stumps.

“I said I’ve won this race a fair few times and I wanted to add another one before I retire, so a great result today.”

Just A Tribute finished sixth in this race last year but White was always confident he was going much better this time around.

“His works been fantastic, we put him out for 10 days and we wanted to set him for this race, because he’s fantastic fresh,” White said.

“He’s a lot better horse this year than last year and obviously has no throat issues this time around.”