Consistent mare Minyinga combined with in-form jockey Jamie Mott to post a long overdue win at Geelong on Sunday.
The eight-year-old has not won for nearly 800 days but Mott gave her a gem of a ride to land the Jim’s Mowing BM64 Hcp (1500m).
The victory was her sixth in 48 starts and her first since scoring at Sandown on July 1 two years ago.
Trainer Jamie Edwards said Minyinga was a stable favourite and while most mares her age are off to the breeding barn she continues to enjoy stable life.
“She has been threatening to win another race for a while now and today finally had her consistency rewarded,” Jamie said.
“Her last three or four runs have been super without winning but she was very strong at the end of the 1500m today.”
Minyinga’s previous wins had been at 1300m and 1400m, two of them at Sandown.
The daughter of Elzaam, who was home-bred by Peter and Christine Sandars and the late Jim Mann, has rarely been far away in her 19 races since her last success.
In 10 of those races she was beaten less than 2-1/2 lengths and 12 times raced at city level.
After competing over 1500 metres at Geelong last start where she was beaten a long neck, she was fancied at $5 on Father’s Day.
With a solid early speed, Mott was happy to have Minyinga sit five lengths off the lead in third place before improving to a length behind entering the home straight.
She was among four horses across the track at the 300 metres and raced away under Mott’s urgings in the last 150 metres to score by 1-1/2 lengths from Morning Has Broken ($10) and favourite Speak Now
($2.20).
“There is no reason why won’t run a strong a mile on that win,” Jamie said.