Tyler Schiller and Team Hawkes combined for a timely midweek win at Canterbury, with the success carrying extra significance for the Johnson family colours.
Schiller guided lightly raced stayer Tastula to victory on Wednesday, marking an important milestone just days before he partners Group 1 winner Briasa in Saturday’s The Shorts (1100m) at Randwick.
The victory was a breakthrough for Schiller, who only recently returned to riding after nearly three months out with a compression fracture to his T8 vertebrae sustained in a fall during May.
It was his first win back in the saddle, and the jockey admitted it was a weight off his shoulders.
“Finally. I carved a few corners out of the stone and got the ball moving,” Schiller said.
“Hopefully there are good things to come on the weekend with the colours of the Johnson family. Hopefully Briasa can do the same.”
Tastula, a five-year-old gelding having just his tenth outing in the Captivant @ Kia Ora Handicap (1900m), looks to have a future in stronger staying company according to Schiller.
“I took him out at the 500 (metres) and he kept up a really strong gallop to the line,” Schiller said.
“He is definitely Saturday grade in staying company. He got to them quite sharply today from the 200 (metres) and he was floating a bit. I think he’s still got more improvement there.
“He’s a big, rangy horse and he will get further.”
Elsewhere on the program, trainer Gerald Ryan unveiled an impressive debut winner in Snitzel Dancer, who took out the TAB Handicap (1250m). The three-year-old filly fought hard after being pressured early by well-fancied rivals Curie and Shangri La Boy.
Ryan was full of praise for the filly’s toughness and potential.
“She has always shown good promise,” Ryan said.
“When you look at her, she looks like she is going to get better as a later three-year-old but she is a nice filly and goes quite well.
“We will poke around and I reckon the autumn will be her time to shine. A race like the James Carr Stakes.”
Punters looking ahead to Briasa’s return in The Shorts can find the latest betting options at Australia’s leading betting sites.