Kozzi Asano and Star Vista return to the birdcage winners at Riccarton. Photo: Riccarton Racecourse
Andrew Carston left Riccarton on Thursday with a spring in his step after the stable posted two wins at the second meeting held on the synthetic track.
“It was a pretty good day overall,“ Carston said. “I thought the track ran a lot better this time, the horses and jockeys had had a run around on it and I thought the jockeys rode well on it today.”
Carston didn’t take long to visit the winner’s circle, with Star Vista winning the opening race on the card.
Jockey Kozzi Asano settled Star Vista near the rear of the field and bided his time before streaking past his rivals in the straight to win by three and a half lengths.
The four-year-old son of Tavistock is raced by harness racing legend Mark Purdon and Carston was thrilled with the result.
“Mark is a genius of his trade so it was great to get a win for him,” Carston said. “It has been a long, slow process to get him here but he seems to have improved from his last start on the poly.
“It was a good ride from Kozzi and if he copes with the poly there are a lot more options with him going forward over the winter.”
Carston hardly had time to catch his breath before he was celebrating again when Vulture Street won the following race.
Ridden by Kylie Williams, the five-year-old Alamosa gelding jumped from the outside barrier and raced with cover before making their move with 750m to go and racing away to win by a length.
Vulture Street arrived in the south late last year and has been in good form, finishing runner-up last start at Wingatui.
“Vulture Street was pretty close to winning last time,” Carston said. “He is a dead set stayer and I hope he can go on with it from here.
“All going to plan he will come back in a fortnight for a $30,000 race on the poly.”
Vulture Street is a brother to Group One winner Stolen Dance and now has three wins to his credit.