Apprentice Chelsea Baker ensured there was plenty of juice in Wednesday night’s Launceston quaddie with a pair of healthily priced winners.
She blew most punters out in the opening leg, a benchmark 62 handicap over 1220 metres, on her father Barry’s charge Belpine Miss.
With most victors on the card racing in or near the lead, the daughter of Alpine Eagle defied the night’s pattern by sustaining a long, wide run from the back to score at $21.
Baker completed her double on the John Blacker-trained Zewinna, who enjoyed a box-seat trail before gaining an inside split in the home straight to take the benchmark 68 handicap over 1420 metres at $9.
The win also completed a double for Blacker, who’d taken the maiden/Class 1 plate over 1620 metres with Surely Special, who found just enough to lead throughout under Siggy Carr.
Glenn Stevenson and Craig Newitt combined for a pair of all-the-way wins on the night with two heavily backed commodities.
The first of those was the lightly raced Wickham Light ($1.45-$1.30), who after hitting the line hard to miss narrowly at his 1100-metre debut relished the rise to 1420 metres to clear maiden ranks at just his second attempt.
Stevenson and Newitt followed up with former Queenslander Brazen Impact, who after opening at $12 was backed into $3.70 favouritism before running his rivals ragged in the benchmark 62 handicap over 1420 metres.
Whitey’s mighty innings
After more than 40 years in the game, Tasmanian Hall of Fame trainer Gary White will saddle up his final runners at Hobart this Sunday.
White has captured almost every feature in his home state including three Launceston Cups and a pair of Hobart Cups. He’s also the only Tasmanian trainer to have produced a winner at the Gold Coast Magic Millions meeting, with his former gun filly Tempest Tost taking the 3YO Guineas in 2009.
He will be represented by four runners at Hobart, where his best chance looks to be in-form backmarker Better Than Banksy in the final event.