More than two years of hard work and patience has continued to pay off for Hamilton’s Barker family, after an emphatic $14,500 Boort Trotters Cup (2612m) win with Glorious Finale on Sunday.
The 10-year-old gelding has won five races since joining the stable in late-2016 and finds himself in career-best form with three wins from his last five starts.
Trained by Jim Barker and brilliantly driven by rising star Jackie Barker, Glorious Finale ran his rivals ragged and led from start to finish to win by 15.2 metres over the Ray Cross-trained Honey Please, with Jerichos Trumpet a further 10m back in third.
Handicapped off the back mark of 30m, Kyvalley Finn was never a factor in the race, but ran home strongly to finish fifth, while the favourite Galleons Victory, who was chasing a hat-trick of wins, could manage no better than sixth.
For Jackie Barker, a second country cup win was reward for a daring drive aboard Glorious Finale.
It followed just eight days after her first aboard Deedenuto in last week’s Ararat Pacing Cup.
“When I got away so good and I had a look behind me they were pretty spaced out,” Barker told Trots Vision’s Paul Campbell.
“This fellow, he’s pretty honest, but can trot a little rough at times.
“I thought if I just keep going, they’ve got to chase and they’ve got to catch him.”
Boort Trotters Cup! so happy with my old boy! Go Jasper pic.twitter.com/rB9P6dnJ8x
— Jackie Barker (@jackiebar96) March 1, 2020
Barker was hopeful of a confident following the gelding’s good second behind Kyvalley Finn in the Ararat Trotters Cup.
“He’s a really beautiful horse to have around the stables, everyone can handle him no worries, she said.
“He’s actually been quite a bit of hard work to get to this (point), probably two and a half years have gone into trying to get him trotting properly and trying to get him back up to this level.
“It’s a very special win.”
