Ellen Bartley moved to third on the Southwest and Riverina drivers premiership courtesy of a running double at Junee on Sunday.
Bartley led all the way with Royal Canvas for David Kennedy before Seeking Dreams did it tough.
Racing without cover, the mare trained by Bartley still had enough to run past Corrinyah Conman ($15.80) and hold off Devil Dust to bring up her third win from five Riverina starts.
Even Bartley has been surprised by how much the five-year-old has improved.
“She’s exceeded all expectations that we had with her,” Bartley said.
“She was just a cheap buy and has nearly won us $10,000 now. I love her.
“She’s gotten a lot tougher and keeps getting better with every run.”
Both horses were coming off last start seconds at Albury.
Royal Canvas ($3.80) had almost two years off to race track due to a hip issue but returned to the winners list in defeating $1.80 favourite Chance The Mach by 1.1 metres.
“He was definitely fitter after his first run,” Bartley said.
“He probably should have won but was shying at the finish post of all things but he definitely went better tonight.”
Bartley sits on nine wins, eight behind Corey Bell with Reece Maguire a further two wins back.
Bell also brought up a double for trainer Shaun Snudden with Chip Leader and Miss Ruthless both breaking long losing sequences.
First up for Snudden, Miss Ruthless scored for first win in two years defeating Alabama Ace by a head.
