SONNY Studleigh found the lead early in Wednesday night’s For A Reason Pace (1,730 metres) and that’s where he stayed until the end.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Despite a wall of horses lining up to challenge Sonny Studleigh ($4.40) over the final 200m none of them had the speed to hunt down the Leigh Davis-trained leader.
Sonny Studleigh picked up his seventh career win and as a bonus recorded a personal best mile rate of 1:56.7.
Winning driver Jake Davis said the chance to go forward early was a welcome change up for the Armbro Operative gelding.
“He got around pretty quick. I wasn’t sure whether to let him go or not but it was the first time he’s drawn the front line all year and he’s been working really strong so I just kept him going,” he said.
“He’s worked well at home and looking at the time he’s gone pretty good here.
“Dad will have another look and see where he’s at after this.”
From gate two Sonny Studleigh was uncontested when he shot to the lead.
Inside starter Tim McGee took the sit behind Sonny Studleigh.
It took a lot longer for the outside line to sort itself out. Smooth Mace looked to have got to the death seat before Hey Porscha quickly took that position away.
The three wide moves kept coming early courtesy of Bertie Francis.
He’s worked well at home and looking at the time he’s gone pretty good here.
- Jake Davis
John O’Shea’s runner appeared have snatched the lead away from Sonny Studleigh at the bell but he was unable to cross over to the inside line.
Just as the field looked ready to settle the challenges from out wide continued thanks to Spare The Price.
However, Anthony Frisby’s runner didn’t have the legs to get to the front and it forced race favourite Swaggie Shannon ($4.10) to race five wide on the turn for home.
Sonny Studleigh wasn’t showing any signs of slowing down after picking up the pace in the third quarter (28.4 seconds).
Tim McGee ($31.50) was looming on the inside and Our Novak ($7.20) looked threatening in the sprint lane with 100m to run but neither could match Sonny Studleigh.
With a growing stable Davis is hopeful there more success to come this season.
“We’ve got 17 in work. We’ve got a lot of young ones coming through and about six in racing at the moment and breaking another yearling in that we’ve bred. It’s going to be a busy year,” he said.
The trainer-driver combination of Craig Cross and Luke McCarthy picked up two wins on Wednesday night.
Blackened and Rocknroll Dude did the job for the pair, with the former winning in the fastest mile rate of the night – 1:55.2.
