Sweet Marika had won nearly as many races as all her rivals combined and it showed as she made a late charge for victory at Wagga on Friday night.
The Leonard Holmes-trained bitch hadn’t won since June but was able overcome a poor start to take out the first heat of the Wagga Tile Sprint Series (320m).
Holmes thought the big drop in grade following a dip in form made all the difference, although not everything went to plan.
“When she got into that race I thought she was a fairly good thing if she could jump,” Holmes said.
“She didn’t jump as well as as she normally does but she came from behind, so I’m very happy.”
Sweet Marika ($1.90 fav) was almost last out the boxes and gave leader Chloe Grace ($9.70) a five-length start before extending away in the straight to down Salminator ($27.50) by 2¾ lengths.
The win was her eighth at career start 69 but the end of her career is approaching.
Holmes is looking to retire the well-bred bitch around the end of the year.
“She has a very good temperament, a beautiful temperament, is a beautiful dog in the kennels,” he said.
“Everyone I know asks me if I am going to breed from her ask me if they can have a pup, so I won’t have any trouble getting rid of them that is for sure,” he said.
