Former quality local sprinter Rebel Bride is beginning to have an impact on Tassie racing as a broodmare, with two of her progeny scoring impressive wins at Devonport last Sunday.
First on the board was the Leanne Gaffney-prepared debutant Carnelian Bay, who scored a comfortable two length victory in the three-year-olds’ maiden plate over 1150 metres.
The Needs Further gelding was posted wide on speed under David Pires but quickly put paid to his rivals in the home straight to score drawing away.
The win was the first leg of a double for Pires, who later combined with Rowan Hamer to take the maiden/Class 1 plate over 1880 metres with Eight Margaritas.
The second of Rebel Bride’s offspring to score was the highly promising, Team Wells-trained Rebel Factor, who scored a soft 2¼-length win in the benchmark 76 handicap over 1350 metres under Siggy Carr.
The gelded son of The Factor had got back and finished off hard at his first five attempts but from the inside draw on Sunday, Carr was able to settle right on the heels of the leader and the result was never in doubt.
Rebel Factor now has four wins from six appearances and will soon go for a short let-up before targeting Tassie’s premier sprint, the TTC Newmarket Handicap in late November.
Stars appear
Several other likely Newmarket combatants line up in a hot open handicap over 1220 metres at Launceston on Sunday which sees the return of last season’s top local three-year-old Alpine Wolf.
The gelded son of Alpine Eagle became the first galloper to defeat former boom youngster Turk Warrior, in the Tasmanian Guineas, before a second consecutive listed win in the Launceston Guineas.
The Barry Campbell-prepared rising star had surgery to remove bone chips during the break and seems to have returned in fine fettle, having won two trials in preparation for his first-up assignment in Sunday’s Marjorie Fitzpatrick Memorial, where he’ll be ridden as usual by Daniel Ganderton.
For a dual stakes winner, he looks very well placed on the minimum on Sunday, as do fellow promising sprinters Algernon (also an acceptor in the last at The Valley on Saturday) and Vivilici.
However, the eight-horse Launceston field contains plenty of depth, with in-form former Victorian Music Addition, 2020 Newmarket winner Gee Gee Secondover and evergreen veteran Blaze Forth also engaged.