WHEN race leader Roll With Rocky crawled through his opening half at Bathurst Paceway in 63 seconds there were no excuses for the well-backed hope to falter in his sprint to the finish.
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The conserved energy came in handy for the Jason Gaffney runner who went on with the job in Wednesday night's For A Reason Pace (1,730 metres).
Roll With Rocky ($2.60) wasn't challenged by his rivals when driver Todd Day dialled back the speed and he made the field pay for that decision.
The Rock N Roll Heaven gelding picked up his first win for his new trainer since coming up from Gary Quinlan's stables in Drouin West, Victoria.
Day was more than happy to cruise along in front when little to no punches were being thrown from the field.
"No-one was putting on any pressure so the first half was nice and easy," he said.
"He had plenty to get home with. I was pretty confident he could get there after that first quarter.
"He has beautiful gate speed so I knew I was going to be able to hold the front. It was going to take a lot for someone to be able to cross him."
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Roll With Rocky didn't have to exert himself to hold onto the lead from the inside gate.
When the green light flashed Day urged his runner to the front and race favourite Britney Jane ($2.40, Michael Muscat) quickly snatched the death seat.
Tulhurst Writer ($7.50, Angela Hedges) comfortable held the leader's tail thanks to his start on the inside of the second row.
Billysbredone and Firey Jerula tracked up close behind the leading trio while an early break formed to the remaining runners.
The gap disappeared when Day slammed on the breaks in a 31.9 first quarter.
The field bunched up over the back straight yet the moves didn't start until Courageous Beau began a move from the rear of the field.
Midway through the turn there was a shock moment as Britney Jane faded fast.
The favourite had been running comfortably alongside the leader when the pace was low but during the 28.8 third quarter Britney Jane failed to stay in touch.
Her drift through the pack crippled the winning hopes of those making an outside charge.
It left Tulhurst Writer as the only realistic shot of taking down Roll With Rocky.
Tulhurst Writer peeled wide for a challenge and, almost as if to crush his opponent's spirit, Roll With Rocky casually responded with a strong burst to the line.
Roll With Rocky won in a 1:58.9 mile rate, holding off Tulhurst Writer by 3.6m.
Firey Jerula ($10) was the best of the rest. Britney Jane ended up finishing at the tail of the field, prompting a steward's query, but no abnormalities were reported by the vet.