Tyler Schiller has combined with Team Hawkes for an important win at Canterbury in what could herald the start of a momentous few days for the Johnson family’s yellow and white silks.
Jockey, trainer and owner were in the winner’s circle with lightly raced stayer Tastula on Wednesday and will again team up with Group 1 winner Briasa when he kicks off his Everest campaign in Saturday’s The Shorts (1100m) at Randwick.
The midweek victory was a relief for Schiller, who has been back riding for less than six weeks after spending almost three months sidelined by a compression fracture to his T8 vertebrae suffered during a race day incident in May.
Tastula was his first winner since returning and he was glad to get the monkey off his back.
“Finally. I carved a few corners out of the stone and got the ball moving,” Schiller said.
“Hopefully there are good things to come on the weekend with the colours of the Johnson family. Hopefully Briasa can do the same.”
A five-year-old, Tastula was having just his tenth start in Wednesday’s Captivant @ Kia Ora Handicap (1900m) and Schiller believes he will measure up to better grade over longer journeys.
“I took him out at the 500 (metres) and he kept up a really strong gallop to the line,” Schiller said.
“He is definitely Saturday grade in staying company. He got to them quite sharply today from the 200 (metres) and he was floating a bit. I think he’s still got more improvement there.
“He’s a big, rangy horse and he will get further.”
Gerald Ryan produced a handy debutante in three-year-old Snitzel Dancer, who rewarded the patience of her connections with a tough win in the TAB Handicap (1250m).
Fancied pair Curie and Shangri La Boy set a strong early tempo that had the eventual winner off the bridle before the home turn but the filly dug deep when it mattered.
“She has always shown good promise,” Ryan said.
“When you look at her, she looks like she is going to get better as a later three-year-old but she is a nice filly and goes quite well.
“We will poke around and I reckon the autumn will be her time to shine. A race like the James Carr Stakes.”
