The Ciaron Maher-trained Tennessee Bound has maintained its perfect winning record with a determined victory at Caulfield.
Tennessee Bound extended its sequence of consecutive wins to six in the Sportsbet Caulfield Cup Carnival Hospitality Handicap (1100m) on Saturday, though the triumph followed an early setback.
The Written Tycoon filly stumbled at the start, requiring apprentice jockey Jabez Johnstone a few strides to settle her.
“It wasn’t smooth sailing, that’s for sure,” Johnstone commented.
“She stepped awkward and had a bit of a trip but recovered well.
“I was under pressure coming into the straight and for that reason she did lay-out marginally, but for a horse to win six in a row, it’s a pretty fair effort.”
Sent off as the firm $1.45 favourite, Tennessee Bound narrowly defeated Behaviour ($11) by a short head, with Luna Cat ($5.50) finishing a further two lengths back in third.
Maher indicated he plans to continue a conservative campaign with Tennessee Bound, likely seeking another handicap-restricted race in the coming weeks.
Saturday’s success was achieved at Benchmark 84 level.
“We’ve been patient with her,” Maher stated.
“She had a three-month break before this preparation, and I think that really helped her.
“I thought she stripped pretty well today, and I think the claim for Jabez definitely helped and getting close to the line, it got a bit interesting, but all she can do is win, so we can’t be too hard on her.
“We’ll see how she comes up, she’s progressive and keeps winning and it certainly gets tougher every time she steps out.
“However, she handles the track, so we’ll raise the bar again, but we won’t get too carried away and look for ratings races.
“She’ll probably jump up four or five points, so we’ll continue to use Jabez’s claim.”
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