Wangaratta trainer lands double at Wodonga meeting

The Andrew Dale-trained Stonefield relished the soft going to notch his second win in three starts for the stable at Wodonga on Monday.

Ridden by Jake Duffy, Stonefield stormed home out wide on the track to score a barnstorming win in the $27,000 0-64 Handicap, (1400m).

Adding further merit to the win, Stonefield was almost last turning for home but showed a devastating turn of foot on the tight turning track which usually favours front-runners.

Racing manager Frazer Dale said Stonefield arguably could have won all three starts for the stable after having no luck at his previous run at Echuca when finishing fourth.

“The has proven to be a handy buy after we purchased him for $15,000 on the Inglis Digital Sales,” Dale said.

“He had a bit of bad luck last-start when he got back which is his usual racing pattern.

“So he is always going to need a bit of luck, today he got that.

“He was able to storm down the outside and won in similar fashion two starts back as well.

“I was confident watching the race unfold, especially the way he travelled from the 600m to the 400m.

“He did the exact same thing when he won a couple of starts earlier when he made ground quickly and he really handles this rain affected ground.”

The stable was able to notch a double after Garros landed an upset in the $27,000 Benchmark 58 Hcp, (1590m).

Garros paid more than $22 on the Victorian tote after upstaging hotpot Princess Nerfertiti ($1.60-fav) for the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace stable.

The eight-year-old gelding was a last-start winner at Berrigan but handled the rise in class after a clever ride from jockey Joe Bowditch.