Prussian Vixen causes boilover in the Mary Lewis Handicap
PUNTERS were burned badly in the first leg of the quaddie at Caulfield as Michael Mehegan-trained mare Prussian Vixen overturned a horrendous run of form to win at odds of $28.20 with Sportsbet.com.au.
The four-year-old had previously finished dead last in three of its last four races but got the perfect tempo to suit throughout the race.
Jake Noonan lobbed the mare in the ideal position and it responded to the jockey’s urgings at the 200m, staying on powerfully to hold out fast finishing pair Lyuba ($1.40 at WilliamHill.com.au to place) and favourite Ameristralia, which boxed on after being trapped three wide for much of the journey to return $1.20 at Crownbet.com.au.
Noonan was full of praise for the training performance of Michael Mehegan in the aftermath of the race.
“He (Mehegan) is a terrific trainer on the rise, (he has) only got a small team but he has a terrific strike rate.””Noonan said.
“(Prussian Vixen) just didn’t come up last prep, so he tipped her out and gave her a good break and the form that she’s got around some good horses was definitely going to measure up around this grade.”
Mehegan said he thought the horse could return to its winning ways after a trial win prior to Saturday’s victory.
“I was very happy with that run,” the trainer said.
“We took her to Sandown for a jump out the week before and she won… it was the fastest jump out of the day and I was pretty positive that she was back to her form because we had a few issues with her the prep before, we just couldn’t get it right so we gave her a spell.
“After that last run I was pretty convinced she was back.”
Mehegan said the team will target a race at Moonee Valley in a fortnight’s time as a potential second-up run for the classy mare, but said the priority is to up the distance for the next start.
“She’s probably better at 1200 metres too so we’ll just take our time and find another race.”