Check In first to qualify for Group 1 Tasmania Cup

A decision by connections to send Mach Three harness racing gelding Check In to Tasmania is paying dividends.

On Sunday night in Hobart, he became the first horse to qualify for the Group 1 Ladbrokes Tasmania Cup, when scoring in the first of two heats.

Reinsman Mark Yole got the $8 chance away well to lead and bowled along throughout the 2579m event and held off the fast-finishing Rackemup Tigerpie ($17) by 3.2m, with Colby Sanz ($14) a further 4.7m away third, in a mile rating of 2m 1.2s.

Trainer Ben Yole was delighted with the win but acknowledged that the $150,000 final will be a stronger race.

“It’s great to win a heat of the big race.

“It will be harder with Emma (Stewart) and a few other Victorians coming over for next week’s heat.

“But he is a lovely horse that can do a bit of work, and when he got to the front, he was always going to be hard to beat,” said Yole.

Check In had won two of his eight starts this season, including placings in the Scottsdale and Meander Valley Cups.

“The conditions of this race suited him, and we were lucky he won a few races to get his rating up enough.

“We know the next heat will be a lot stronger, but you never know, we are in the big dance.”

The well-travelled pacer started his career in New Zealand, where he contested many Group races, including the 2020 New Zealand Cup.

Check In arrived in New South Wales in 2021 and had a stint in Victoria before returning to New South Wales.

He arrived in Tasmania last November.

“He has had a good record all of his life, and I am very thankful for Glenn Holland, Summit Bloodstock and Aaron Bain Racing for allowing me to train a nice horse like him.

“They said he was not suited to the hard mile racing at Menangle,” Yole said.

The second and final heat of the Tasmania Cup will be held on Friday night before the Group 1 Final on Saturday week.

For complete race results, click here.

by Duncan Dornauf, for Tasracing