Melbourne trainer Tony Vasil’s weekend took a turn for the better with the win of Liberty Leader in Sunday’s Group Three Tasmanian Derby.
Ridden by Jack Hill, Liberty Leader beat the Darren Weir-trained Rainbow Storm by 1-1/4 lengths with Varian leading the locals home in the 2200m feature in Hobart.
An investigation is underway into an incident between Vasil and a stablehand near the swimming pool at Caulfield on Friday.
Racing Victoria’s compliance assurance team has conducted a number of interviews in relation to the incident and the trainer is expected to be called to an inquiry this week.
Vasil’s hopes of a feature win on Saturday were thwarted when Prince Harada ran fourth as favourite in the Group Three Manfred Stakes at Caulfield.
Adding salt to the wound, the race was won by Bull Point ridden by Damien Oliver who ditched Prince Harada in favour of the Gai Waterhouse-trained colt.