The win of Extending at Sale will give trainer Bruce Purcell the ideal tonic as he continues his recovery from an incident at the Cranbourne training centre.
Purcell was placed in an induced coma after being injured in an accident when one of his horses was being unloaded from the float before trackwork in July.
The day after the incident, the Purcell-trained No New Tricks finished out of the money at Caulfield on July 13 with Extending his first runner since.
Fellow Cranbourne trainer Ray Besanko has stepped up in a caretaker role to prepare Extending for his first-up win in Thursday’s Traralgon Vineyard Handicap.
“It was fantastic,” Besanko told broadcaster racing.com.
“I’ve been looking after him for Bruce since he got hurt really bad.
“Jean (Purcell’s wife) and the owner asked if I’d take him and I said I’d do it for Bruce.
“I’m just so happy that’s he’s won for Bruce.”
Besanko does not expect Purcell to return to training duties in the immediate future but said the trainer was recovering well.
“He’s walking and he’s talking and he’s improved in leaps and bounds in the last couple of weeks which is just great for everybody,” Besanko said.
