Breakthrough Group 1 win in Tasmania Cup

Carrick harness racing trainer-driver Mark Yole broke through for his first Group 1 win when Gotta Good Reason scored in the $100,000 Group 1 Ladbrokes Tasmania Cup in Hobart on Saturday night.

The gelded son of For A Reason stepped cleanly from wide on the front line to take up the lead, with Yole electing to bowl along in front with his rivals unable to run him down to give Mark his greatest moment in harness racing.

“I never thought that would happen,” Yole said after his first Group 1.

“He is just a different horse in front, I knew that, and I just had to keep him running along without taxing him too much, and gee, he just has a heart as big as himself,” explained the winning trainer-driver.

Gotta Good Reason was purchased by Mark’s wife Danica in late 2019.

“We brought him off Luke McCarthy for $12,000 and he came down and won first up for us.

“He was only a 70 rater and has exceeded expectations,” Mark said.

Backmarker Ryley Major finished 2.4m away second while the outsider of the field Puntarno Stride ran third.

While the Victorian’s missed out on a top-four finish in the Tasmania Cup, they made a clean sweep of the two Group 3 three-year-old features.

Bettors Delight gelding Hiranya gave 23-year-old reinswoman Abbey Turnbull her biggest win in the sport when leading throughout to score in the Tasmanian Derby, with the pacer prepared by her father Craig.

The $1.75 favourite was able to take up the lead and held off a late challenge by District Attorney by a half-head.

“He will go out for a bit of a rest now, but Dad does have a few nice races in site for him,” said Abbey after the win.

Relentless Me ($1.24 Fav) led home a training quinella for Victorian trainer Brittany O’Brien in the Tasmanian Oaks.

Reinsman Alex Ashwood took the pacer straight to the lead and was never in doubt to defeat stablemate Chedalayo by 12.4m.

“It was pretty much a walk in the park, she got a pretty easy lead time, and we made the most of it with a quick last quarter,” Ashwood said post-race.

The state’s premier mares race, the Group 3 George Johnson, was taken out by Lavaughn, who was one of three winners on the night for trainer-driver Conor Crook.

Watch Gotta Good Reason score in the Group 1 Tasmania Cup: