Tale Of Eight breaks maiden status on Jungle Juice Cup day
TALE Of Eight broke through for the first win of his career when saluting on Jungle Juice Cup day at Cessnock on Wednesday afternoon over 1150m.
The Steve Hodge-trained gelding was ridden beautifully by Blake Spriggs who sat mid-field in the early stages before working his way up to the outside of the leading division on the home turn.
Entering the straight Tale Of Eight let down with a nice run and, despite being challenged by runner-up Uncle Sam, he was able to kick on strongly to salute by 0.29 lengths.
The win came as no surprise to punters which sent him around as the $2.60 favourite, with Hodge and his owner/breeder Mick Russell also rating him a good chance.
“We came here confident – Mick the owner is always confident with his horses,” Hodge told Horse Betting at the track.
“It would have been a big thrill for him today because he bred this horse – it makes it very special when you can breed them yourself and then win with them.”
Tale Of Eight was second up on Wednesday, having put in a nice performance to finish fifth at Newcastle on September 16.
“A couple of his runs last preparation were good against some stronger horses – he ran well at Gosford and it wasn’t a bad run last start at Newcastle,” Hodge said.
“To be fair it wasn’t a very strong field today so he really got his chance.”
Hodge said there are no immediate plans moving forward with the four-year-old gelding, explaining he will look around for a suitable race in the bush.
“He should get a fair bit of confidence out of that run today – but it is hard to tell how far he’ll go.
“We’ll just keep him to the country tracks and race him through his classes – it doesn’t really matter where we race him because they all pay the same.
“If he can keep picking up a couple of pay checks he is going to be a handy horse.”
The win also continued the partnership of Newcastle-based Hodge and Russell who have had a few handy horses together over the years.
“Mick has a property over near Raymond Terrace and he breeds a few each year and spells his horses. He is a good bloke to train for – I always have a couple in the stable for him.
“We had a nice horse together named Lovethebeaches and she won a Stayers Cup at Randwick – that was a day to remember.
“Paul King rode her that day and she would have been 150m in front of the rest of the field at one stage – but she held on and got the job done. That was a massive thrill.”