Among the earliest runners to falter in the Hobart Cup, Asva entered the Launceston Cup without market support as punters favoured interstate challengers Ziryab and Taramansour.
The popular duo vanished from contention at the end, with Asva heading a Tasmanian trifecta followed by Zulu Angel and Distrustful Award. No Rumours, finishing sixth, proved the top visitor from outside the state.
“I knew I had a fair horse, I put a line through the last run,” winning trainer Glenn Stevenson said.
“If he can get put to sleep in his chance.
“He’s always shown the ability, it’s just been a matter of actually getting mature. It’s a maturity thing that’s been with him, and he’s finally grown into the horse he is.”
Positioned behind the leaders early, Asva shifted to three-wide in the back straight where rider Jett Stanley chose an aggressive move five off the fence on the six-year-old, seizing the lead at the 400m mark.
Post-race, the trainer and jockey offered contrasting accounts of the tactics employed.
“To be honest, you sit, and you go ‘what’s happened here, what’s he doing? Oh my God’ He won though so it’s a great ride,” Stevenson said.
“Once we got into the side straight, there was a three wide moving line which I thought would take me where we needed to be,” winning jockey Jett Stanley said.
“From about the 700m, I was going too well. For 2400m horses, if you don’t know whether they can do it or not, there is only one way to test them – that’s just to let them go when they are travelling that well.
“He went around them so easily and effortlessly. From the 200m I was just trying to think of my salute.”
Elsewhere on the card, Sanniya, representing Barry Campbell and Star Thoroughbreds, dominated the Vamos Stakes (1400m) to extend her perfect record to five consecutive victories.
John Keys secured the quinella in the 3YO Classic (1200m) courtesy of Swift Force over stablemate Zambezi Blonde, while Steparty notched a second win from two Tasmanian outings this campaign by capturing the Hellova Street Stakes (1600m).
Explore the latest racing betting markets for upcoming features following Asva’s Launceston Cup success.