Machbev’s moving debut win
• Three-year-old filly Machbev powered home to win her debut race on Sunday night driven by Rohan Hillier. Image Stacey Lear Photography.
By Taylor Clyne
February 12, 2020
Described as a little horse with a lot of heart, three-year-old filly Machbev trained by Kate MacLeod made an imposing racing debut on Sunday night winning the 1680m Stakes.
She started well from barrier one and ran most of her race sitting behind the leader.
At the home turn for the last time, she came off the fence and quickly took the leading role, breaking away to win very impressively in a smart time of 1.59:4.
The Machthree filly joined the MacLeod stable just two weeks prior after being broken in and trained by Dallas Krushka for owners Pamella Krushka and Bev Hanlon.
“It’s been a true team effort,” MacLeod said.
“Dallas has done nearly all of the work with her and Bev bred her, the connection lines run deep with the families as Dallas used to train the filly’s half-sister too.
“All the way along she’s shown ability on the track but she’s not your typical standard bred personality wise, she has a few problems loading in the float which was becoming difficult.
“The loading issue was getting a bit too much for the Krushkas, so we’ve been doing a fair bit of work with her to improve her worries.
“Her manners on the track are a different story, she’s lovely to drive and clearly has a nice future ahead of her.
For breeder Bev Hanlon the win was extra special following a hard start to the year, surrounded by racing friends on Sunday night the achievement was felt by all.
Looking to her next campaign MacLeod said there are a few appropriate races coming up.
“There are a couple of nice three-year-old races coming up in Hobart if we can get her there, we might need to make a night of it,” she laughed.
“We’ll regroup on the plan but it’s lovely for me to be part of the journey.”