IREBY Betty proved to be too good in Friday night’s Bathurst RSL Club Soldiers Saddle Final (2,260 metres) as the KerryAnn Turner-trained mare continued her strong start to her Australian career.

In just her second start in the country Ireby Betty ($2) backed up from last week’s heat win in style to win the final as favourite by 8.9m from Karloo Ten Seventy ($2.40). 

Kenny Dee Held ($47.20) off Hi Its Only Me a further 8.8m back in a duel for third.

When the gates opened John O’Shea wasted no time getting Cuddle to the front of the field out of gate five while Midnight Prowler took the death seat.

That arrangement lasted only a couple hundred metres before Ireby Betty raced up from towards the rear of the field to take the lead. Haka Shannon also came up to be the new outside leader.

The shifting in the field continued as Karloo Ten Seventy also went wide around plenty of runners to once again see the death seat change hands.

The two best-backed chances now had control at the front when they received the bell.

It was a decisive third quarter from Ireby Betty in front that would prove the difference. Her 27.8 quarter tested the field and began to stretch it out.

Across the back of the track Hi It’s Only Me tried to make a move three wide towards the front but the two front runners put several lengths back to the rest of the challengers.

Then on the final turn it was all settled when Karloo Ten Seventy started to drift off the pace, sending Ireby Betty to a win in the night’s $12,000 feature.

The winning mile rate was 1:57.4.

Bathurst Harness Racing Club CEO Danny Dwyer said the performance from Ireby Betty was impressive given her limited time racing in the country.

“Apparently the horse was a $9,000 purchase, not an expensive horse by any stretch of the imagination. It takes a good horse to win that race though especially against a horse the likes of Karloo Ten Seventy who probably has a 50 per cent strike rate.

“It was a very different race compared to her heat win when she led from the front. You didn’t really know what to expect with her off the second row this time, that was probably the biggest question in her second start here.

“In the end it was one of the more dominant wins I’ve seen in the race for some time.  She put the pace on at the 400m mark. Karloo Ten Seventy might have made some ground back on the straight but that was a big effort coming over here and winning like that.

“It was a really good night of racing overall for us. The earnings and the attendance were doubled compared to the same meeting last year.”