Heat win puts Ultimate Vinnie on track for Cup

Ultimate Vinnie (Alta Christiano) ($2.50) did the right thing by favourite punters when scoring in the second heat of the Group 1 Ladbrokes Tasmania Cup (2579m) in Hobart on Sunday night.

The six-year-old harness racing gelding paced away for a couple of strides before galloping soon after the harness racing standing start was affected.

Driver Tayla French ended up settling the pacer one-out and three-back before improving into the race from the 1500m to find the lead near the 1200m, and pulled out all stops late to defeat Cool Water Paddy ($18) by a head, with Modern Bliss ($16) a further 1.4m away third in a blanket finish which saw 4.5m between the first six placings.

It was the first start in Tasmania for Ballarat-based trainer Sam Barker, who was delighted with the win.

“I was happy with him. He did a bit of work after galloping at the start, which was a bit surprising as he had been good in two trials, but he didn’t pace that well for the first lap.

“When Tayla pulled the earplugs, he pricked the ears and thought his job was done, so we will put the pull-downs on him in the final and hope he is a bit sharper,” the trainer said.

Barker decided to aim the pacer after his recent run in the Ballarat Cup, and he isn’t worried about the six-day backup over the long distance and recent boat trip.

“I decided to bring him down after the Ballarat Cup, where he put in a pretty good run, so I thought I would give him the opportunity to come down.

“He raced in the SA Cup and had two 2600m races in a row, so I don’t see that being an issue, and he travelled over both times then,” he said.

Barker has had Ultimate Vinnie for his 69-start career, with the owner Taylah Markham purchasing him as a yearling for $700. He has gone on to win 12 races and just over $165,000 in prize money earnings.

Later in the night, Dream Maze ($2.70 fav) led all the way to win the second heat of the George Johnson (2090m) in a slick 1:56.9s mile rating.

She scored by 5.5m over Blackbird Miss ($2.90) and Major Fire ($4.00).

The Finals of both races will be held on Saturday night.

by Duncan Dornauf, for Tasracing