LOYAL locals with a bit of inside knowledge were cheering wildly at Pakenham on Friday after the Tara Cochrane-trained Lacey’s Revenge caused a boil-over in the second race on the card, the $15,000 Hyland Sportswear Maiden Plate (1750m).
The Pakenham-trained five-year-old gelding had never run a place in nine previous runs, but the step up in journey, to beyond a mile, proved a master-stroke by Cochrane, the son of Sirius Slew running away in the straight to score by a length and a half on the line.
Lacey’s Revenge, who had never raced beyond 1200 metres until his last start at Mornington over the 1525-metre journey, was perfectly ridden by in-form Cranbourne jockey Brian Higgins and scored at the juicy odds of $31.
