Abirra proves his town quality
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Jason Taylor returns to scale with city winner Abirra
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Abirra took on some strong competition to win his first metropolitan race the Cadbury Confectionery QTIS 3YO Handicap 1200m at City Pacific Doomben on Saturday, July 12.
Ridden by Jason Taylor, Abirra (G3 Easy Rocking-Jazz Heaven) got a great start from barrier seven and settled behind topweight Burdekin Blues (Shane Scriven) and $2.40 race favourite Rumba Jack (Amy Taylor).
In the straight he made his move to the outside of them and got past to win a neck in front of Burdekin Blues.
Rumba Jack placed third by two and three quarter lengths.
“It was a good run. He was ridden perfectly,” said Abirra’s trainer Robert Wilson.
“We’d discussed it beforehand and the speed those two favourites put on really suited him. That was our plan to get across, just tail them off and try and pick them up down the straight and everything just fell together perfectly.”
Abirra started his career proving himself in Rockhampton picking up prizemoney in all his six starts including four wins. He was trained by Tom Bourke for local owners David Rowe and Caroline Day.
Following this success and a spell the owners decided to give Abirra a start in town moving to Wilson’s Sunshine Coast stables in April.
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Sunshine Coast trainer Robert Wilson (Noel Pascoe photos)
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He had come close a couple of times and Wilson and the owners were always confident he could win a metropolitan race.
“We were always confident the horse was going to get one,” he said.
“He had a lot of bad luck during the Winter Carnival. We decided to give him a couple of weeks freshen up and come back and have a crack at it again.”
This was Abirra’s fifth start for Wilson, the last being the Listed Brisbane Plate in May where he placed eighth. Prior he placed second at the Sunshine Coast.
“He’s always been a quality horse,” said Wilson.
Abirra was purchased for $15,000 at the Capricorn Sales and has since earned $115,950 including $36,600 in QTIS bonuses for connections.
Taylor also completed a double on the day after winning the last the City Pacific Finance 1MW Handicap 1110m on the Barry Baldwin-trained Ben Hur.
QUEENSLAND Racing web news: Hollie Roberts – July 14
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