Sof’s memorable bonanza

What a night to remember it was for harness racing driver Sofia Arvidsson who turned the short trip from Terang to Geelong into a metropolitan-level bonanza for Matt Craven’s stable.

The relatively recent convert to the trots shone brightly at Geelong on Saturday night, having driven Aldebaran Tess to the Haras Des Trotteurs McNamara Memorial Trotters Cup and then Heza Son Of Agun to the Group 2 Nutrien Express Tatlow Stakes.

Not only did they deliver the 55^th and 56^th wins of her career, which two season in stretches to just a tick over 300 drives, but the pair were also horses Arvidsson told TrotsVision she’d recently spent most of her time with.

“I’ve had to put a few of my old ones out, so I had to pick a few new ones. I said during the week ‘well, all I have left then is Tess and (Heza Son Of Agun)’,” Arvidsson said. “That’s not so bad is it.”

Aldebaran Tess reminded she’s on track to be a mare of the highest quality in winning the trotters cup in her first standing start, overcoming the 20-metre handicap she shared with Margaret Ruth, with only cups king Well Defined (40 metres) starting further back.

Swiss Miss stepped well to lead with Queen Of Crime and A Jewel In The Crown other prominent front runners. Aldebaran Tess didn’t enter the fray until the final straight, when she overcome an apparent miss-step at the last turn to win by a short half-head in a barnstorming finish.

“She lost a bit of ground around the turn and somehow she came back at them up the straight,” she said.

“She was pulling so hard down the back and was pretty wide. I was just trying to keep her trotting, because she gets so competitive and when there are horses around her she just wants to go as fast as she can, and sometimes faster than she can.

“I’m just so grateful to sit behind this horse. (Owner/breeder) Duncan (McPherson) will be so happy, I knew if we trotted all the way we could be a chance, but I didn’t expect it to happen.”

The good times continued for the camp two races later when Heza Son Ofa Gun emerged from the pegs to mow down highly rated front runners Beach Villa and Catch A Wave in the Nutrien Equine Tatlow Stakes for two-year-old colts and geldings.

Sitting behind leader Beach Villa and polemarker Interest Free for the trip, Arvidsson was able to swing from the pegs to three-wide at the turn and crash the line to win the Group 2 by two metres, securing the driver’s richest win to date.

“I didn’t really expect him to win, there are so many nice two-year-olds and we were inside back row,” she told TrotsVision. “You rely on a bit of luck, but geez he went good.

“This horse has just continued to improve. He’s just such a good little racehorse. He’s just kept getting quicker.

“We started galloping him a while back and that improved him, and this week we put him back on the straight track and he was just so much faster.

“I think he’ll just keep getting better, I think he’ll be a consistent racehorse. He might not be the absolute best, but I think he be a consistent racehorse and do a really good job.”

One horse who may well be the best of her class is Irish Black Label, who on Saturday night won the fillies division of the Nutrien Equine Tatlow Stakes, one of two winners on the night for trainer Emma Stewart and driver David Moran.

She overcame a draw disadvantage to win by 1.4 metres from stablemate Encipher and register a third success from four starts for the Lauriston Bloodstock owned and bred Bettors Delight filly.

“Her run was really good,” Moran told TrotsVision. “She was three-wide for a while until we figured out what was going to happen up front. It seemed to take a while for that to work out and then we went back and then had to go forward again, so her run was probably better than it even looked.”

Relentless Me, who would run third, initially held the lead before Petillante kicked up from the one-one to lead, leaving Encipher exposed in the breeze.

With a tick over a lap to go Irish Black Label advanced from the back of the field to the chair and had all the answers when the pace picked up, getting home in a 28.2-second final quarter to score.

“She’s got a lot of strings to her bow,” Moran said. “She can do work and she’s got so much high speed, which makes a big difference too.”

Stewart and Moran also combined to win the Allied Express 3YO Classic with Beach Villa, who saw off a meritorious challenge from highly rated New Zealand horse Bettor Twist. The latter battled valiantly on debut for Nathan Purdon and only further whet the appetite for what should be a sensational Breeders Crown series next month.

To view all the race results from Geelong on Saturday night click here.

By Michael Howard for HRV