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It took only a few moments hesitation before Tauranga trainer Peter Darvill quietly labelled the win of Matimba in the Brand Protocole Mile at Ellerslie on the weekend as his “best moment in racing”.
Darvill not only trains the rugged six-year-old but he also bred and owns the son of Perfectly Ready in partnership with wife Nola who was on hand to share the moment with her husband on Saturday.
“This is just wonderful and I think it could well be my best moment in racing,” he said during the celebrations in Ellerslie’s Winners Circle after the race.“We had won a race here before with I’m Isaac but I think this tops that one as you don’t often get to win on the biggest raceday in the country.”
Darvill admitted he was more hopeful than confident of a victory as he felt race favourite Fast Learner might have the measure of his galloper although he was heartened by how the pattern of racing on the day had panned out going in to the contest.“On paper it looked like Fast Learner would be the winner although our fellow had been working well and I thought he had improved from his last run where he won at Te Rapa,” he said.
“I had talked with Rory (Hutchings) before the race and we thought if we could get a soft lead he might be hard to catch as nothing seemed to be coming from the back during the day.“As it turned out he got all favours in front and things panned out exactly as we had hoped.”
Although it was just the gelding’s fourth win from 36 career starts he has been a model of consistency with a further 15 minor placings added to his record.“I’ve always said he is a slow maturer and I did expect him to keep getting better as he got older but this season he has really strengthened up and is a different horse,” said Darvill.
“He doesn’t mind some cut in the track so hopefully we have plenty to look forward to in the next few months although I will keep spacing his races as he goes best when a touch fresh.”Darvill has his eyes on a home track victory next for Matimba as he looks at options on either the 14th of March or 7th of April at Tauranga before any further decisions on his autumn campaign.