Greg Sugars is hoping First Dance can follow in the footsteps of his top-class mare Rakero Rebel after she completed back-to-back wins at Melton in the National Guardian Solutions Pace.
Sent out a $4.40 second elect behind the $1.55 favorite Draw A Dream, First Dance settled mid field in the running line before Sugars pulled out four wide approaching the home turn.
With Sugars sitting quietly, First Dance gathered in the leaders comfortably to score by two metres from Arggghhh in a mile rate of 1:53 for the 1720 metre sprint trip.
Sugars said the race panned out perfectly for the daughter of A Rocknroll Dance.
“It turned out the best you could hope for under those circumstances, I didn’t have to spend any extra petrol early and lobbed in a good spot and she trailed a horse that took her right to the top of the straight,” Sugars said.
“And then she got the job done nicely,” he said.
Sugars said the five-year-old was beginning to fulfil the potential she showed as a young horse.
“For a period there as a three-year-old we thought we had a pretty smart mare on our hands but for a while she didn’t really live up to expectations but if she continues to improve the way she has in the past few months she is going to turn out to be a pretty good mare,” he said.
Earlier in the night the Group 1 winning mare Sahara Breeze ($13) returned to the racetrack in fine style when she produced a powerful finale in the home straight to score by two metres from Jilliby Nitro in a mile rate of 1:53.8 for the 2240 metres.