Barry Campbell took the training honours at Launceston last Friday night, winning a trio of races including two of the three $50,000 feature events on the card.
He set the tone in the night’s opener, the 2YO Tasbred over 1200 metres, with Bright Night.
The daughter of Needs Further loomed alongside race leader and short-priced favourite Celestial Glow at the 600-metre mark. After they dropped the only other runner in the field, Ojos Del Salado, on the home turn, Bright Night gained the upper hand in the final stages under stable apprentice Laura Bingley’s urgings after engaging in a two-horse war.
Bright Night then had to withstand a protest from the runner-up’s rider, Jackson Radley, after the pair came together in the concluding stages.
Heavily backed former Chris Waller representative Shy Guy ($2.70-$1.80 favourite) gave Campbell a double, taking the maiden/Class 1 handicap over 1600 metres.
The Saxon Warrior gelding was slow to begin but quickly recovered to take up a handy position under Kelvin Sanderson before proving too strong for the fast-fishing Ibutho.
It was a deserved win for Campbell’s charge, who’d been game in defeat at his first two local appearances. He’s set to back up over the same route in Class 2 company on Good Friday.
Campbell’s third success came via promising filly Dancing Wolf who, despite facing the breeze, treated her two rivals with contempt in the 3YO Tasbred over 1200 metres, careering away to score by 4½ lengths under Chloe Wells.
The full sister to former Tasmanian three-year-old of the year Alpine Wolf now has four wins and two minor placings from her nine appearances.
The other feature on the card, the 4YO Tasbred over the same distance, went to the John Blacker-prepared favourite Perola despite a drift in betting ($2-$2.45).
Perola also faced the breeze before scoring by a half-length under Radley. Runner-up Bloomtime found the line well at her first run back from a break.
Another daughter of Needs Further, Perola is likely to have one more run before heading to the paddock with a view to tackling the Victorian spring carnival next campaign.