A change of luck awarded the Andrew Carston trained Khorabella an overdue win at Cromwell on Sunday.
The daughter of Darci Brahma struck traffic problems at her last start at Riccarton on New Zealand Cup day, but with room to move on the weekend she flew home in the final stages to win the Centrepoint Liquor Supplies (1400m) under a well-time ride from Jake Bayliss.
“I’ve always held this filly in high regard,” Carston said.
“To be fair she has taken a little bit of time physically and mentally to mature. She had no luck at all in her last run at Riccarton on Cup Day so we were confident she would run well on Sunday.”
Khorabella settled well and travelled towards the rear of the field before Bayliss made his move coming around the bend, she kicked on down the centre of the track to get her head in front just on the line to complete a hattrick for her jockey.
The Cromwell victory was Khorabella’s third career win and while Carston has no long-term plans for the five-year-old mare her immediate target is Wingatui on Boxing Day.
“At this stage she will likely go to Dunedin on Boxing Day, there is a nice race for her there,” Carston said.
“I’ve had the horse for a couple of years and the owners have been really patient because she has been a little bit mentally and physically weak, but they have stuck with her and it was great to get another result for them.
“She is definitely improving.”