Racing
A Blonde Star is born under lights
Five-year-old mare Blonde Star ($10) made light work of a deep Open Handicap (1600m) field in Launceston on Wednesday night and may have assumed favouritism for next month’s Devonport Cup in the process.
The Imogen Miller-trained mare stormed past race favourite Earendel ($2.25) on the home turn, racing away to beat that horse by 1.75 lengths, with Asva ($6) a distant third place.
The winner of Wednesday night's race was afforded ballot-free entry into the $125,000 2026 Ladbrokes Devonport Cup on 7 January.
"Her first-up run was adequate, and the mile we thought suited her better. We know it was a good race, but we were really confident she'd be hard to beat," said stable representative Brendon Mccoull.
The race didn't go as many would have scripted, with Earendel spearing across from an outside alley to take up the lead by a conservative four lengths after just a few hundred metres of the race.
Blonde Star's rider, Erica Byrne Burke, had her mount settled towards the front of the chasing pack, seemingly having the race in her keeping a long way from home.
Blonde Star has two Devonport wins to her credit and would appear right on track for next month's synthetic feature.
"Her form certainly now warrants going the way of the Devonport Cup. We've been aiming that way, and I think it'll be a good race this year, but she'll be one of the better chances," McCoull said.
Many of Wednesday night's field will head towards the Devonport Cup, with the next main lead-up race being the $50,000 Sheffield Cup (1650m) in Devonport on 19 December.
Johnstone fires again
The red-hot form of apprentice Jabez Johnstone continued with a winning treble.
Across the last four Tasmanian race meetings, Johnstone has ridden 11 winners from 28 starters.
He picked up where he left off in the opening race, partnering In the Ocean ($2.70 EF) to an impressive win in a class 6 (1100m).
In the Ocean missed the recent Goodwood and Newmarket Handicaps but appears set to be a major player in the open class sprints for the rest of the summer, likely beginning with the $50,000 Winzenburg (1100m) Quality in Hobart on 15 December.
Johnstone later rode Stars in the Night ($6) to a tough all-the-way win in a BM60 (1200m), before rounding out his treble with Launnie Nights ($3.40), who looked like the winner a long way out in a class 2 (1600m).
"I always listen to instructions, but you've got to go out there and ride your own race," Johnstone said after the win of Launnie Nights.
"A lot of things can happen, so you've got to trust yourself, and as soon as you do, it will give you a lot of confidence."
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