Veteran Eight Bills defies his age to score at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate day
Ageless sprinter Eight Bills proved he is far from a spent force with another tough win in the City Jeep Handicap (1000 metres) at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
Trainer Stephen Brown was over in England watching on Sky Channel as nine-year-old Eight Bills taught his younger rivals a sprinting lesson.
Jockey Dean Yendall seized the initiative when he drove Eight Bills forward in what was to prove the decisive winning move.
“They were not going at breakneck speed,’’ Brown said.
“So I was mindful that I wanted to get on my bike and get around them before they all started pushing out because I would have ended up in the Tabaret (club situated just outside the course on the home turn)!
“He travelled three-wide but he was always in a nice rhythm.”
Eight Bills ($15) forged to the front on the turn and maintained his advantage to the line to score by a half length from the fast finishing Henwood ($12) with Vatican ($13) three-quarters of a length away third.
Miss Steele was sent out the $4.40 favourite and raced without luck before closing late for fourth.
Eight Bills recorded the 11th win in his 48-start career, including his third in succession.
Brown took Eight Bills to where he won both his starts including the Northern Territory’s premier short-course race, the Palmerston Sprint.
“He gave me a great feel during the Darwin carnival,” Yendall continued.
“You wouldn’t know he is a nine-year-old.”
Brown’s stable representative Gino Mata said Eight Bills is in peak physical condition.
“Eight Bills is a picture of health — look at the dapples on him,” Mata said.
“He doesn’t look a nine-year-old. He goes very well fresh and it was great to see him win today.
Mata said Brown is in England “trying to source a Melbourne Cup horse or two.”
[25/10/2014]
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Veteran Eight Bills defies his age to score at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate day
Ageless sprinter Eight Bills proved he is far from a spent force with another tough win in the City Jeep Handicap (1000 metres) at Moonee Valley on Saturday