A pair of New Zealand-bred horses produced a winning double for Ciaron Maher and David Eustace at Caulfield on Wednesday.
$11 chance Playoffs (NZ) (Tavistock) was first to salute in the McCafe Handicap (2000m) out staying his rivals to post his fifth career win.
Later on the card Yonce (NZ) (Proisir) rallied after being headed in the home straight to justify support that saw her backed in from $1.90 to $1.55 in The Mary Bell (1400m).
While punters seemingly had cause for concern when Ayahuasca headed Yonce and jockey John Allen at the 100m, Maher had not conceded.
“You could see him (Allen) hustling her along three-wide, but he had cover the whole way and had a pretty good run,” Maher said.
“I did think when the other horse came at her that she does have a lot of fighting qualities.”
Four-year-old mare Yonce, justified her trainer’s faith to make it three wins from as many starts with her head win over Ayahuasca.
Yonce was considered one of the more progressive older horses at Caulfield on Wednesday and Maher is looking forward to seeing what she can do, especially over further.
“To do what she’s doing at this trip of 1400 (metres) – she’s going to get a lot further – she’s got a really bright future,” Maher said.
“I was pretty keen to get her out to a mile for this start but there wasn’t the right race. We went 1400 and got away with it, so we’ll definitely stretch her out.”
