It was a big day for the locals at Hastings yesterday, with home-town horses taking the two feature races in dominant fashion.
First up was the lightly raced Adventador in the Trinity Hill Wines Sprint. The 4-year-old Fast 'N' Famous gelding went straight to the lead and ran his rivalsinto the ground, kicking strongly soon after rounding the home turn and opening a four-length margin on the field. Keyora surged out of the pack late to move into a clear second and narrow the margin, but never threatened the talented local. Adventador crossed the line three lengths clear for his third win from just eight career starts - not a bad outcome for a horse with almost as many surgeries as racetrack appearances. He's had screws inserted in a leg, and he's also had a breathing operation. His issues prevented him from racing between December 2011 and May this year. His connections have had to be patient and he's rewarding them now with some magnificent performances on the track, winning three of his last five races.
Guy Lowry said before the race that they'd consider keeping Adventador in training for the upcoming Rush Munro Spring Carnival; the ease and style of his win yesterday should have made that decision a whole lot easier.
Keyora's connections were also given plenty to smile about. This was a massive improvement over his first-up seventh at Waverley, and it was a performance that suggests a large amount of the class that carried him to a pair of Group 2 wins as a 3-year-old is still there, nearly four years on.
Later on it was the turn of the John Bary-trained Commett to score for the locals in the Windsor Park Stallions 1400, blazing away to a runaway win. The Flying Affair took second, with favourite Guessing in third.
Commett's in the form of his life, winning his last two races in a row in increasingly impressive fashion. While he managed to win by a comfortable two-and-a-quarter lengths at Wanganui, yesterday's win was by an even more emphatic three-and-three-quarter. He's been racing since April, but seems to be only going from strength to strength. He too seems to have earned a shot at the rich Spring Carnival company.
There were no developments in the increasingly exciting battle for the jockeys' premiership, with neither Opie Bosson nor Matt Cameron scoring a win in any of yesterday's eight races. So Bosson's lead stays at six - 142 wins for the season to Cameron's 136. It was Miranda Dravitzki who dominated yesterday, winning aboard both Time To Sparc and Commett.
