Down to the wire in a tight go!

Young Victorian harness racing caller Luke Humphries didn’t know which way to look when the runners hit the finish line in the second leg of the quaddie at Charlton on Monday afternoon (Oct 9).

In the shadows of the post in the second division of the TAB Pace, there was four definite chances as they overhauled the leader and race favorite Talk Is Cheap ($2.20).

“Anything could win this – here’s a wall of a go,” Humphries said, 30 metres from the line and his prediction was spot on.

“There’s probably only a head or less separating four horses—an amazing finish, quite unbelievable. This could be a four-way dead heat,” he enthused.

In the final analysis, there was little more than a head margin separating the four. Abbey Fields (Shadow Play) and driver Alex Ashwood got the verdict by a short half head, from Bruised Ego (Jack Laugher), with half a head back to Markleigh Caz (Ryan Sanderson). Bizzness Class (Abby Sanderson) was a similar margin away in fourth spot.

Abbey Fields, trained by Emily Wombwell, who was celebrating her birthday, was three back on the pegs during the 1609m event, but Ashwood decided to be patient and wait for the sprint lane, which proved the winning move.

Ashwood, who a few months ago shifted to a new training complex outside of Bendigo with partner Tayla French, is enjoying a strong season with 60 driving wins and 81 placings.

Now an eight-year-old, Abbey Fields is racing in consistent form with wins this season at Mildura (two), Hamilton, Mt Gambier and now Charlton.

The mare is just one start away from the “ton” of starts, with 11 wins, eight second placings and 11 thirds for over $70,000 in stakes.

Wombwell, of Portland, said getting the winning verdict was a “lovely surprise”.

“I watched the race from halfway down the straight and thought she would peak early as the way the race was run it just wasn’t really her go,” she said.

“I was thinking she might perhaps hang on for a place. I was pretty sure the ones on the outside had got to us. I was content with thinking we’d run a place, so it was lovely when they called us out as the winner!”

The pacer was bred by Anthony and Johnno O’Connor who have had an ongoing association in the sport with Emily.

“I was always at Johnno to let me lease her and when his stable numbers started increasing, I got the chance,” she said.

“Later on, we finished second at Birchip and they asked me if I was interested in buying her. She was pretty cheap, so I jumped at it.

“My aim was to get her to 10 lifetime wins and she’s now gone past that. Hopefully she’s still got some more left in her old body.”

For complete race results, click here.

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink