Trained by Peter Burgun and ridden by his wife Shirley Hunter, the five-year-old-mare looked a likely winner soon after the field jumped in the lucky last, with Hunter finding cover just off the pace and turned on a riding masterclass for younger jockeys to admire.
She kept her horse safe down the back; and except for a near-miss with an over-racing horse approaching the turn out of the straight, she was never in trouble.
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As they lined up for the run home Hunter steered around the pacesetters; got Lady Day’s attention with a touch of the persuader and simply stepped into another class, riding hands and heels to the easiest of wins, almost two lengths in front.
And Burgun’s first thought as they crossed the line was finding the perfect 1600m start for his improving mare.
“I’ve always thought she would go out to 1400 and then the mile but since her win here on September 1 she has had a bit of bad luck in her races so it has been hard to gauge,” Burgun said.
“It was a great ride by Shirl and the way they hit the line made it pretty obvious Lady Day could have kept going.
“So I am thinking about taking her to Moonee Valley on Friday week where they have a 1600m race for fillies and mares and a BM64 over the same distance.”
Burgun said Sunday’s win would probably push his horse up four points, so he would enter Lady Day for both races.
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He said the BM64 would pit her against similar standard horses, but he was already inclined to see the all-girl mile as his preferred event – even though it was a BM70.
“It is the tougher field, but she will get a very light handicap; as opposed to the BM64 class where she will carry more,” Burgun said.
“But first we need to see how she pulls up after the weekend because the tracks are already getting harder – the jockeys reckoned this one was like concrete to race, so there might be a few shin sore younger horses in the next day or two.
“She has had five starts since a three-week freshener; so I think we’ll get past the Valley and then have a look at what we do next.”
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Burgun has his own 1000m sand track and swimming pool, so was only an occasional user of Benalla for trials and some fast track gallops, but he said Ed Higgins and his team had done “a fantastic job” in the ongoing maintenance of the Benalla track, making it one of regional Victoria’s standout venues.
“We have 10 horses in work at the moment, and a few of them a young, but I expect we will be taking a couple to Tatura in a couple of weeks,” he said.
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