Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Serpentine trainer Dylan Egerton-Green notched a memorable milestone when he drove his one thousandth winner at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
He produced $11.40 chance Otis in fine fettle for the 1730m Remembering Brodie Kane Young Pace in which he had the task of overcoming the disadvantage of starting from the outside of the back line in a sprint event.
Egerton-Green was content to keep Otis at the rear while the polemarker and $31 chance Acuto was setting the pace and keeping the $2.65 favourite Arma Xfactor at bay in the breeze and Blaze Coops ($7.50) out on a limb, three wide.
Otis was well back in ninth position at the bell, and when Chris Lewis sent last-start winner and $7.50 chance My Ultimate Baxter forward with a three-wide burst with 600m to travel, Egerton-Green was more than happy to follow that pacer.
Arma Xfactor eventually took a very narrow lead 250m from home. Otis was then in sixth place, and he finished powerfully to win by a neck from Acuto, with Arma Xfactor a head away in third place.
“I’m very happy with the way Otis performed,” said Egerton-Green. “He ran a solid mile rate (1.54.8).”
Otis, owned by prominent breeder Steve Johnson and his daughter Charlotte, is a six-year-old by Sweet Lou, and is the first foal out of the Art Major mare Janet Gai, who was retired as a three-year-old after winning once (at Pinjarra) from seven starts.
Janet Gai has a special claim to fame. She is a half-sister to champion four-year-old Never Ending. Otis is proving a wonderful performer who has been driven in all his 47 starts by Egerton-Green for 13 wins, 18 placings and $162,648 in prizemoney.
The 31-year-old Egerton-Green has fond memories of his first winner, the Justin Warwick-trained Shadows Of A Man, who beat Turbo Gold by just under a length in a 2277m event at Williams on December 28, 2010.
“Shadows Of A Man settled at the rear and went three wide to the breeze before going on to win,” he said.