THE Lagoon's Amanda Turnbull added another Group 2 winning drive to her resume on Saturday night and it came against one of Australasia's in-form super stars of the track.
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Turnbull claimed glory in the Breeders Crown 4YO Entries And Geldings Final (2,240 metres) on Emma Stewart's Hurricane Harley ($5), beating recent Victoria Cup champion and Miracle Mile runner-up Lochinvar Art ($1.30, David Moran) in a classic duel to the finish line.
Seeing those two runners fighting out the finish would have come as a surprise to no-one at the Victorian track but the finishing order was a minor upset, as Stewart's runner got revenge for his fifth place finish 22 metres adrift in the Victoria Cup.
And Hurricane Harley did it in record time as well, finishing in 1:51.4 to equal the mark set by Lochinvar Art in October's cup victory.
"He's amazing isn't he, he just loves being in front and he's hard to catch," Turnbull told Trots Vision post-race.
"He's an unreal horse Harley, you don't feel like you're going that fast but the lead time just felt like it was that slow and he had it that easy.
"Lochinvar Art just wouldn't go away. That's just how he goes, he's a beautiful goer. I just couldn't shake him, I knew I was running but I couldn't get rid of him. All credit to him, he stuck there and it was a great race."
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Hurricane Harley didn't have to work hard to find the front out of gate one though the same couldn't be said of Lochinvar Art, who had to make an opening lap move from the rear of the field to join him at the head of the field.
The pair never relented on the tempo, racing the opening three quarters in splits of 28.2, 27.4 and 27.4 to apply the pressure on the field of the field.
And that pressure become too much on the turn for home.
Hurricane Harley and Lochinvar Art peeled away from the field on the bend and it became clear that one of them was going to be taking the spoils.
Turnbull took a glance over her left shoulder entering the straight, and when she saw no-one near her she knew only had to look to her right to see the remaining opponent standing between her and victory.
But with pressure to his outside Hurricane Harley maintained his one length lead over Lochinvar Art to his outside with 200m left to run.
Hurricane Harley responded well when Turnbull asked him to hold on for that extra bit longer, keeping Lochinvar Art at bay by a neck.
Turnbull also trained a runner in one of the night's feature events, the Group 1 2YO Breeders Crown, where long shot Treasure Rainbow looked for the upset of a lifetime.
While that didn't happen Turnbull's runner still finished a very credible sixth place at $160 odds.