Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
New Zealand-bred mare Mighthavtime appeared to be facing an almost impossible task when in 11th position at the bell in the 2130m HTA Reaching For The Top Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
But Deni Roberts followed Our Shelley Beach’s three-wide burst from the rear to get Mighthavtime to storm home and win convincingly.
With Bee Jays Boy leading for the first 350m before Chris Voak sent Post Game to the front, Roberts was happy to let $14.40 chance Mighthavtime drop back to the rear, while the $1.34 favourite Ira Poole was working hard in the breeze.
The pace was solid throughout, with opening quarters of 29.1sec. and 29.6sec. being followed by 400m sections of 28.2sec. and 28.9sec.
Our Shelley Beach ($26) got to the front 300m from home before Mighthavtime finished powerfully to take the lead 130m from the post. She went on to beat Our Shelley Beach by two lengths, rating a smart 1.54.2 over 2130m.
“On paper, from the draw, it didn’t look good for Mighthavtime,” said Roberts. “But a fast lead of 35.3sec. followed by plenty of speed, brought us into the race. I was actually losing ground in the first lap. They were going so hard before I finally caught them.
“Mighthavtime has been up for quite a long time, but she is absolutely thriving.” The Betterthancheddar five-year-old, who is trained by Greg and Skye Bond, has earned $98,118 from eight wins and 15 placings from 41 starts. A winner of four races in New Zealand, she has had 19 starts in WA for four wins and eight placings.
Roberts and the Bond stable kept up the good work with a double at Northam on Saturday night with New Zealand-bred three-year-olds The Masked Crusader ($1.38) and Vegas Strip ($1.26).