Trainer Joe Pace and his son Adrian toasted two milestone achievements after their pacer Justalittlesip scored an upset win in the Lifestyle Communities Free For All at Melton on Saturday night.
Sent out the $26 outsider in the six-horse field, Justalittlesip settled fourth as the field assumed an Indian file formation before Adrian Pace eased off the pegs with 800 metres to travel in order to apply some pressure to the leader Hes From Heaven ($2 eq fav).
Justalittlesip joined the leader halfway down the straight and managed to poke his head in front on the line, scoring by a head from Hes From Heaven in reeling off a 26.5 last 400 metres.
The win was 24-year-old Adrian Pace’s first success at free-for-all level on the Melton circuit.
“It’s good now that I’ve got the free for all out of the way,” Pace said.
Pace said the six-year-old was unlucky when he finished midfield behind Horn Player at his previous start.
“He’s been going really well and he didn’t have a lot of luck in his last start as the gaps didn’t come for him at the right time in a pretty nice field last week.
In the straight he was up for the battle, he always digs in and tries really hard so all credit to the horse. We always knew he had a free for all in him and when these better races come around in the summer I’m sure he’ll be right in them.”
Joe Pace reflected on Justalittlesip’s injury-interrupted career as he celebrated his 200th training success.
“We’ve been through a lot with him but he’s come back in really good form and his work has been good and he’s racing well,” Pace said.
“It (200th winner) has been a long time coming but all the work that we’ve been putting in and with our facilities it can be a bit of a slog, but you wake up in the morning and this is what you get,” he said.
Promising juvenile trotter Howdy Mate ($1.45 fav) completed back to back feature race wins at Melton when he led all the way in the Aldebaran Park Tatlow Stakes (2YO Trotters).
The Jess Tubbs prepared son of Elite Stride broke clear of his rivals on turning for home and was untroubled to score by seven metres from a gallant Notanotha Naughty with Elle Perfecto four metres away third.
The win followed Howdy Mate’s success in the Nutrien Equine Classic (2YO Trotting Colts & Geldings) Final a fortnight ago and provided James Herbertson with the first of a winning treble.
“It’s the first time he’s led in a race and he’s learning as he goes and his manners at the start tonight were good and I was really happy with him,” Herbertson said.
“He’s getting better all the time, he did that really easy tonight and the last 100 metres he was really cruising, and I didn’t ask that much of him… we haven’t found the bottom of him yet,” he said.
Philip Chircop took the training honours with a double courtesy of Maxnjax and the well supported three-year-old New Shuffle ($1.12 fav) who led all the way against the older horses in the Logical Staffing Solutions Pace Final.
Herbertson admitted he was taken aback with New Shuffle’s 27.8 back straight quarter.
“He really did that third quarter in second gear and I was very surprised to see that time,” he said.
“He probably would have run another 27 quarter if I had opened him right up, for a three-year-old you couldn’t ask much more.”
