By Glenn Davis
A master stroke to remove a tongue-tie on Straturbo paid dividends when the former Sydney sprinter broke a 20-month drought at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday.
Straturbo was having only his second start for leading trainer Tony Gollan when the gelding scored a nail-biting win over Tisani Tomso in the Angove Wines Open Handicap (1000m).
Nine-year-old Straturbo got up in the last bound to edge out Tisani Tomso by a nose with Prompt Return third, only a short head away.
Straturbo was formerly trained in Sydney by Gary Portelli but stayed with Gollan whenever he made trips to Brisbane.
“Just past the post and just before it he was running second but he just got the bob in on the line,” Gollan said.
“He’s a good old fella who has been good to his owners.
“The owners made a decision with the recommendation of Gary to bring him up here and it’s good to get the job done.
“He runs really good races up here and when I got the chance to train him I took the tongue tie off.”
“He’s an old bloke who was probably sick of having his tongue tied down.”
Straturbo’s win was his first since claiming the Listed Bribie Handicap at Doomben in December, 2016.
Earlier talented filly Hold The Line maintained her unblemished record with a dominant win in the QTIS Three-Year-Old Handicap (1200m).
Ridden by premier jockey Jeff Lloyd, Hold The Line sat off the pace in the early stages before wearing down early leader Defence Missile to score by a short neck.
I Dream Of Green was third, a further 4-1/2 lengths away.
Hold the Line was a cheap buy for only $37,000 at the Magic Millions March yearling sales and gave her owners a quick return on their outlay when she won on debut at Ipswich on August 1.
The daughter of Your Song subsequently ran second in a barrier trial on her home track before stepping out to maintain her unbeaten record.
“I was delighted when I got her for that price as I was prepared to go higher,” said trainer David Vandyke said.
‘She’s a bit fragile still but I gave her a trial last week which I think help her a lot as she settled a lot better.”
Vandyke is having a terrific run of luck lately and Hold The Line was his fourth winner from his past seven starters this month.
Vandyke said Hold The Line would remain in Queensland and not join her star stablemates Miss Quaintly and Asharani in Melbourne this spring.
“She’s a QTIS filly and I’m not sure she’s ready for a trip away at this stage of her career,” Vandyke said.
“She’s still climbing the ladder and there’s always the winter carnival for her next year.”
Racing Queensland webnews August 25