Six-year-old gelding Von Hauke has booked a trip to Queensland following a strong win in the Listed Golden Mile (1600m) at Bendigo on Saturday.
The Cliff Brown-trained son of Savabeel was having his second tilt at the race, having finished a luckless fourth last year.
As the field turned for home, the Mornington conditioner admitted a sense of déjà vu, but there were no such problems this year as Harry Coffey plotted the right path to score a narrow but strong victory.
“I thought it might be history repeating itself at the top of the straight that’s for sure,” Brown said.
“He’s a lovely horse and he seems to be improving. Mentally he’s better. Physically they take time but mentally he’s a lot better.
“He still over-races a little bit but he’s far better than he was.”
Von Hauke is poised next for a working holiday in Queensland that could lead to a shot at the Gr.1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) on June 1.
“That would be nice,” Brown said. “That sort of race or something a little bit less but he’s not far off them.”
Starting at $11, Von Hauke burst through late to overhaul the $4.60 chance Wonder Boy right on the line with Shockletz ($12) turning in a superb finish from last to finish third.
“I found myself a little bit further back than I would have liked but he does have a great turn of foot,” jockey Harry Coffey said.
“I made a bit of a move between then 400 and 300 and he really tracked into it like the winner but all of a sudden they were coming back sharply and I had to divert back to the inside.
“He just sustained a really nice rhythm while diverting and held his gallop and then when I fully asked for the supreme effort late, he continued to find.
“He was the best horse in the race and he just needed things to be run the way he likes.”
Von Hauke was bred by Waikato Stud and is out of the O’Reilly mare Tiara, who is a granddaughter of the Gr.1 Auckland Cup (3200m) winner Royal Tiara.
Offered by Stonehouse Thoroughbreds at the 2021 Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale, Von Hauke was bought by Cliff Brown Racing for A$190,000. – NZ Racing Desk
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