Super consistent filly Tango Jewel may have earned herself a well-deserved break and opened the door to contesting longer races next campaign after a tenacious win at Sandown.
The three-year-old led all the way in Wednesday’s Sportsbet Make It Look Easy Class 1 Hcp (1200m), withstanding a determined 400-metre challenge from Kahhof.
Second favourite, Tango Jewel ($5) was dwarfed by Kahhof but refused to be headed under the urgings of apprentice Celine Gaudray.
“She took a bit to balance up entering the straight but when I went for her, she was really tough to the line” Celine said.
“She was very competitive and every time he (Kahhof) got closer she dug a little deeper.”
Having her fifth start for the campaign, the win came after a series of four minor placings including consecutive seconds at Ballarat, Geelong and Sandown before finishing on the losing end of a three-way photo finish at Moonee Valley.
“Today it looked like the second horse was going to run past her but to her credit she dug in and was in for the fight,” assistant trainer James Edwards said.
“Celine is a great judge of pace and rated really well with some good sectionals in front which allowed the filly to kick when it counted.”
Trainer Jamie Edwards said it was a great result for owners Ross and Margaret O’Callaghan who paid $10,000 for the daughter of Winning Rupert at the 2020 Inglis Great Southern Sale.
She’s now had two wins from nine starts after landing her maiden over 1100 metres at Kilmore on heavy track in May last year.
Jamie said the way Tango Jewel ran through the line at Sandown suggested she may get as far as mile.
“She might not just be a sprinter,” Jamie said.
“She won by a head at Sandown, but she wasn’t stopping and by the time they were pulling up she was lengths in front of them which makes me think she might get a mile,” Jamie said.
“It could be a good time now to give her a break and bring her back for the wet tracks which we know she likes.”