John Dunne
Tango Tara made a belated return to the winner’s stall at Melton when he led all the way in the $25,000 Del Re National Italian Cup.
Favourite backers were delivered an early broadside at the meeting when the favorrite Perfect Class galloped after appearing to be tightened heading into the first turn and settled down at the rear of the field.
Meanwhile Kate Gath was allowed to dictate the terms of the race to suit herself on Tango Tara as the leader was joined by stablemate Yambukian before increasing the tempo with a 28 back straight
quarter.
In the run to the line Tango Tara was untroubled to score by three metres from Yambukian to give the Andy Gath stable a feature race quinella.
The win was the eight- year- old’s first at headquarters since April last year.
“It is really good to get a win with him finally as he’s knocked on the door a few times but hasn’t quite got there, drawing two in the random barrier draw made all the difference,” Kate Gath said after the race.
Gath acknowledged Tango Tara hasn’t won out of turn in recent months.
“He tends to go best in faster mile rates, he’s a bit of a funny horse as he doesn’t win as often as you think but I thought he was good tonight and it’s probably the biggest winning margin he’s had for a while,” she said.
“He generally knocks off the last little bit or has one get to him.”
Gath said Tango Tara was unlikely to join exodus of pacers heading north for the Queensland Constellations at Albion Park later this month.
“We’ll just stay here as he earns just about every time he goes around even from bad draws, and you can’t complain about that,” she said.
Tango Tara has now exceeded $350,000 in stake earnings and the win was his 16th career success which has been punctuated with 37 placings.
Racegoers who braved the chilly weather at Melton savoured the win of champion race mare Ladies In Red in the Cinderella Stakes.
David Moran let Ladies In Red amble around to wrest the lead off stable mate Soho Historia with a lap to travel and the six-year-old daughter of Mach Three cruised to the line in a mile rate of 1:52.6
for the 1720 metre journey.
Ladies In Red will travel to Brisbane this week in search of the rich spoils on offer with her focus being the $150,000 The Golden Girl where she will clash with NSW mare Aardies Express and fellow
Victorian Rakero Rebel.
There is speculation that the win, her 16th at Melton, could be her last at headquarters as the breeding barn beckons later this year.
