Randwick punters were on target with debutant Mossfun who pulled off a betting coup with a professional Kensington track win in the $250,000 Inglis Nursery on Saturday.
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The filly opened at $4, eased to $4.20 before she was crunched to start the $3.30 favourite.
Mustering good early speed, Mossfun was part of a three-way tussle for the lead but when betting drifter Baio dropped off after working hard out wide, it was left to Mossfun and Dual Star to battle out the finish.
The Hawkes Racing-trained filly eventually asserted her authority to deny Dual Star by a head with Baio holding on for third, another three lengths back.
Michael Hawkes said Mossfun’s lack of race experience was evident over the final stages when she took time to get the better of the runner-up.
“Just probably inexperience up the straight, she really wanted to knuckle down the last bit but just wanted to have a look at the horse on the inside,” he said.
“But she’ll get better as she gets older. It’s only her first start but she’s got the job done and that’s what we wanted.”
Hawkes was also happy to win the rich sales-restricted race for owners Emirates Park and its general manager Trevor Lobb who used to work closely with the Hawkes family during his time with Woodlands Stud.
“It’s the old team back together and hopefully we can get a few more like this filly,” he said.
An $85,000 yearling, Mossfun is likely to be given a short break and prepared for some of the better two-year-old races in the autumn.
“We will probably pull up stumps, freshen her up and head towards the autumn,” Hawkes said.
Earlier, the Gai Waterhouse-trained Frespanol acted on the addition of blinkers to cope with a 400-metre distance drop to win the Australian Turf Club Handicap (1400m).