Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Smart four-year-old Orlando Blue failed in a bid for the early lead, but still carried too many guns for his eleven rivals when he finished determinedly to snatch a last-stride victory by a short half-head over the pacemaker The Kraken in the 2536m Catalano Truck And Equipment Sales Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
The win gave Mundijong trainer Michael Young his 99th success for the season, and he is confident of bringing up his century with a win by Ideal Tomado in race five at Pinjarra on Monday.
Orlando Blue, making his second appearance after a spell, was the $3.80 second fancy from the No. 2 barrier. Maddison Brown got him away smartly, but he was unable to wrest the lead from $21 chance The Kraken.
Orlando Blue then raced in the breeze for a lap before he gained the one-out, one-back trail when Moonlite Drive ($9) dashed forward into the breeze. Brown switched Orlando Blue three wide 220m from home and the gelding fought on strongly to get up in the final stride after a final quarter of 28.3sec.
This gave Brown her 47TH driving success for the year — her best record for a season, with her previous best being her 41 winners in the 2019-20 season.
Orlando Blue has earned $92,567 from nine wins and nine placings from 35 starts.