Driving rain at Randwick couldn’t dampen Tracey Bartley’s spirits after Slick Sniper gave the trainer his first winner from his new Wyong base on Monday.
Bartley moved to the NSW Central Coast from Mudgee in the central west of the state just 10 days ago and Slick Sniper was his second runner from the new stable.
“I really like it at Wyong, the facilities are very good and the travel is much better,” Bartley said.
“It used to take four hours to get here.
“Slick Sniper was my second runner since I’ve been there and managed to handle the heavy conditions well.”
Ridden by Josh Adams, Slick Sniper ($10) tracked the leader Circle Of Power ($5.50) into the straight and ground away to eventually get to the front.
He strode clear inside the final 100 metres to win by 2-3/4 lengths with another three-quarters of a length to favourite Tom’s Rocket ($2.15) who didn’t handle the wet ground as well as expected.
Slick Sniper’s half sister General’s Sniper was Bartley’s first runner out of Wyong but performed below par when she beat just one horse home in Sunday’s Tamworth Cup.
But the trainer has big winter hopes for the star of the family, triple Group One winner Sniper’s Bullet who is scheduled to run in a barrier trial on Friday ahead of a Brisbane campaign.
“He trials on Friday at Wyong and if he goes well we’ll take him to Brisbane again,” Bartley said.
“We do have the Stradbroke in mind again but we have to see how he goes in the lead-up races.
“There’s a Group Three race up in a couple of weeks so we’ll see how he does.”
Sniper’s Bullet won the 2007 Stradbroke Handicap to give former jockey Bartley his first Group One victory as a trainer.
The horse’s other Group One wins came in late 2009 in the Railway Stakes and Kingston Town Stakes at the Perth summer carnival.
AAP TURF
