An inside gate, an exquisite ride and an honest racehorse combined to produce Proven’s 11th winner of the season at Ipswich Thursday.
Handy mare MERSEYSIDE, another daughter of BETTER THAN READY (like our Just Now Stakes winner BETTER GET SET) , secured her third victory narrowly but decisively in the BM65 event for Fillies & Mares over 1200m.
The 4YO began her career in style, winning on debut as an autumn juvenile and whilst her 10 subsequent starts have only yielded a couple more wins she’s been a pretty consistent performer apart from several runs at her home track.
That’s probably attributable to the firm surface at Eagle Farm but interestingly more horses seem to handle it in recent times with the general consensus that the surface is now more forgiving as grass roots deepen.
The Ipswich track was actually upgraded to a Good (3) so MERSEYSIDE may well have another crack in races where she’s trained.
Rider Brodie Loy, who gave her a lovely steer, was suitably impressed stating: “She probably peaked late which is why she didn’t run away from them but it was a really good first-up run.”
The O’Dea/Hoysted team have no ambitious plans for her at this stage but will be guided by how she progresses, especially when she gets out to 1400m.