Dane Smith saluted on his home track not once, but twice on Friday at the Halls Gap Cup meeting held at the Stawell Race Course.
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Smith trained, five-year-old mare Crystal Tycoon teamed up with Declan Bates, to take out the fourth race.
The wins was Smith’s first for the new year and first since September last year.
Despite a long time between wins for the stable, Crystal Tycoon needed just one start to break through for her maiden win.
At the final turn Bates had plenty of work to do, and Crystal Tycoon was up to the challenge.
A late surge from Crystal Tycoon saw her victorious over Fastlane To Heaven who was leading on the inside.
Crystal Tycoon looked to have plenty in the tank as she crossed the line of the 1100 metre race.
Punters were rewarded for their confidence in the mare with odds of $10.40.
Smith recorded a winning double when Our Henrietta also won with Bates in the saddle.
Our Henrietta took out the Quarry Restaurant Benchmark 58 handicap.
Our Henrietta is reasonably fresh to the Smith stables having only arrived there in September last year.
This was Our Henrietta’s first win from her seven starts under Smith’s guidance.
The five-year-old mare was in good form having placed in the first four in her last four starts.
A second at Horsham two weeks ago over 1400 metre was a good start to this preparation. The horse pushed out to 1600 metres on Friday and looked to cover the ground easily.
Our Dexter ran second in race seven with Bates again on board. The Smith stables have a number of good horses in work at the minute, but have been struggling to get those winning results.
The winning double will give Smith and his team some reward for their effort.