Race experience paid off for Steely Hustler who delivered plenty of festive cheer for her owners posting an impressive maiden win at Geelong on Wednesday.
Ridden by Jordan Childs the three-year-old filly may have been having only her second race start but she made it look easy as she coasted home to a 2-3/4 length victory in the Adam Bird Electrics Maiden Plate (1147m).
Steely Hustler did a lot wrong when she finished third at her Werribee debut but was never headed at her Geelong run.
“It’s amazing what race experience does,” trainer Jamie Edwards said.
“She was all over the place at Werribee, hanging out on the corner and had her a head on the side up the straight.”.
Favourite Steely Hustler ($3.10) led and surged away in the home straight to score by easily from Heofon ($3.30) and Made The Effort ($3.60).
A highly string filly, Steely Hustler was given the benefit of a track gallop at Geelong in the days leading up to her post-Christmas assignment.
“She is a credit to everyone at the stable as she’s a difficult horse to train because of her temperament,” Jamie said.
“Under the circumstances, it is particularly pleasing to see her win at only her second start as not many do that,” Jamie said.
Her ability to handle the soft Geelong track was a bonus and opens more doors for her next winter.
She is already proving a bargain buy as her managing owner Jamie Kline bought Steely Hustler as a yearling at the Inglis Online in last June 2022 for just $5000.
Her other owners are Celal Gurlu, Mark Crough, Brenton Micevski, Jayden Micevski, Putu Sutika, Paul Walker, David Walker, Ricky Skenderis, Byron Kennedy, Terry Kennedy, Mo McLean.