STEVE Turnbull-trained gelding Heza Thrill had never come closer to a Group-level victory than when finishing second in Monday’s Goulburn Cup (2240m).
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Race favourite Easy On The Eye ($2.20) proved too strong for the six-horse field, Heza Thrill ($3.40) finishing 6.7 metres afield.
Monifieth ($3.80) was another 1.5m behind for third.
Easy On The Eye – a contender in last year’s Miracle Mile – showed his class to take out the Group 3 $30,600 race in leading from start to finish.
Mega Alexander got a good start at the green light from widest at the gates, but Easy On The Eye got out even quicker to get across to the pegs. Stunnin Banner slotted in behind the leader.
Going around the back of the track for the first time, Amanda Turnbull wasn’t content sitting in last and brought Heza Thrill three wide around the field.
Turnbull brought her gelding level with Stunnin Banner on her inside, leaving Easy On The Eye to run out alone in front.
Monifieth made the first big move after the bell to draw level with Heza Thrill and Easy On The Eye, slowly drawing away from the remaining three runners behind them into the home straight.
There was no catching the Shane Tritton-trained runner in front, who kicked away to win in a 1:57.2 mile rate.
There have been no shortage of runs for Heza Thrill at the level, and a fourth in the Group 2 Shirley Turnbull Memorial on Boxing Day had previously been the best result.
The Tritton and Lauren Panella partnership claimed three races in total over the eight-race meeting.
The Turnbulls didn’t leave empty-handed from the meeting, with recent stable acquisition Last Man Out winning at $17.60 odds.
In just the second start under Steve Turnbull, the five-year-old gelding ran down leader Ten In Command to win by a half neck on the post.
The Presidential Ball out of Alpha Franco gelding arrived from New Zealand to produce an eighth on debut before bouncing back in style with the run home at Goulburn.
Denises Legacy came close to making it two wins for the Turnbulls before she was run down in her race by Ponderena.