Tranquil Bay breaks through at Ararat
It took less than two weeks into 2022 for Highclere Australia to land their first winner for the calendar year as honest filly Tranquil Bay scored a long overdue victory at Ararat.
With form around stakes performers Pegasi, Lightsaber, La Rocque and The Art Of Flying, the Anthony and Sam Freedman-prepared Tranquil Bay was sent out as the $1.85 favourite for the 1100m maiden at what was the second start of her campaign and her eighth overall.
Allowed to settle midfield off the speed by Dean Holland, she dropped her head nicely before she was stoked up by the rider on the point of the turn.
Despite taking time to wind up, she finished over the top to score by a length and a half over the Phillip Stokes-trained Wish Master with Tributo, a debutant for the Lindsay Park team of Ben and J D Hayes, third, a further nose away.
“It was a good win, a good effort from her and I hope she will take some confidence from that,” said Sam Freedman. “We’ve always known she had the talent but it was just a case of getting a bit of confidence up for her.
“We will head to a Benchmark 58 with her now and hopefully that will allow her to continue to build on that confidence before we aim too high.”
An $80,000 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale purchase, Tranquil Bay has now earned almost $40,000 with the promise of more to come.