Off-the-canvas win ensures leading stable doesn’t go home empty-handed with short-priced favourites.
A gritty performance from Yonce spared Ciaron Maher and David Eustace the disappointment of having three odds-on favourites taste defeat at Caulfield on Australia Day.
The daughter of Proisir rallied after being headed in the home straight to justify support that saw her backed in from $1.90 to $1.55 in the $130,000 The Mary Bell (1400m) that rounded out the card.
Maher had earlier seen Enthaar beaten at $1.45 in the W.J. Adams Stakes and Lighthouse go under at $1.95 in the John Dillon Stakes and while punters seemingly had cause for concern when Ayahuasca headed Yonce and John Allen at the 100m, Maher had not conceded.
“You could see him (Allen) hustling her along three-wide, but he had cover the whole way and had a pretty good run,” Maher said.
“I did think when the other horse came at her that she does have a lot of fighting qualities.”
Yonce, a four-year-old New Zealand-bred mare, justified her trainer’s faith to make it three wins from as many starts with her head win over Ayahuasca ($14) with Wegobam ($8) 2.75 lengths away in third position.
The four-year-old was considered one of the more progressive older horses at Caulfield on Wednesday and Maher is looking forward to seeing what she can do, especially over further.
“To do what she’s doing at this trip of 1400 (metres) – she’s going to get a lot further – she’s got a really bright future,” Maher said.
“I was pretty keen to get her out to a mile for this start but there wasn’t the right race. We went 1400 and got away with it, so we’ll definitely stretch her out.”
The last-race victory completed a winning double for Maher and Eustace following the earlier success of $11 chance Playoffs in the McCafe Handicap.