Deni Roberts had her ‘measuring stick’ working to perfection when she partnered talented harness racing filly Turn The Page (Vincent) to a last stride win in the Group 3 Daintys Daughter Classic at Gloucester Park.
Sent out a well-supported $2.45 favorite, Turn The Page was given time to balance up by Roberts before working up to sit parked outside the leader Castella Dellacqua while her main danger August Moon ($2.65) settled at the rear of the field.
With a leisurely mid race tempo, the race developed into a sprint home and it took Turn The Page the entire home straight to grab the leader in the shadows of the post getting up to score by a half neck from Castella Dellacqua
Roberts said the Greg and Skye Bond trained daughter of Vincent had a tendency to lose concentration when she gets to the front in her races
“She has a habit of switching off when she gets in front so I have to time her run to make sure she gets to the lead just before the winning post,” Roberts said.
TURN THE PAGE REPLAY
The winner at five of her six starts since arriving from New Zealand, Turn The Page should be unbeaten in Australia according to Roberts.
“At her last start I could see her ears go forward and she just switched off after getting to the front on the home turn and Lombo Mitchinson grabbed her on the line,” she said.
Roberts said it was difficult to get a gauge of the filly on the training track when she arrived.
“At home she didn’t work at all at first so Greg and Skye decided to just throw her in a race and it was obvious she is just a racehorse,” she said.
Roberts is impressed by Turn The Page’s seemingly endless reserves of stamina.
“In most of her races I need to control the race from sitting parked outside the leader so that I can make sure she doesn’t get to the front too early in the straight,” she said.
“She does it so easily – she is that good she doesn’t know it.”
For complete race results, click here.
by John Dunne, for Harnesslink