After finishing second at her past two starts, Needs Sugar chose the right place to break her duck, the Listed Kevin Sharkie Elwick Stakes (1100m) for two-year-olds at Hobart on Sunday.
Ridden by Troy Baker for Stuart Gandy, the daughter of Needs Further tracked the early pace but was forced three deep when Anthony Darmanin on the solidly supported Cairns eased off the fence.
Needs Sugar took the lead before the home turn and never looked back, defeating the Headwater debutant Thespian Waters by three lengths with the Stratosphere Encounter Sphere a further two lengths back in third.
Very easy in the betting, Needs Sugar was having her fourth start and was the most experienced runner in the race.
Troy Baker said it was a deserved victory after the filly raced with little luck at her previous two starts.
“I was happy to sit second or third as Brendon McCoull was insistent on leading (on Thoros Of Myr). Once he got to the lead, Anthony Darmanin popped off and put us three deep,” Baker said.
“It spurred her on a bit, so I went with her. When we straightened with a good break, I was full of confidence.
“She has got better every start this prep.
“They are a great bunch of owners. Unfortunately, Stuey (Gandy) could not be here as he is at a wedding. He would have watched on his phone and been over the moon.
“Thanks to him, and well done, the team.”
A homebred for part-owners, the Barwick and Millar families, Needs Sugar is the first foal of the hard-knocking Sharkbite mare Galeocerdo.
A half-sister to stakes-placed Zatacla (Al Maher), Galeocerdo won eight and placed in nine of her 43 starts with earnings of $118,432.
She has a yearling colt by Alpine Eagle and a filly foal by Ambidexter.
Needs Sugar is the sixth stakes-winner for Armidale Stud’s Need Further, whose outstanding daughter Mystic Journey won the Elwick Stakes in 2018 and Mystical Pursuit a year later.
Needs Further has six lots catalogued for the 2023 Magic Millions Tasmanian Yearling Sale on February 20.
