Trainer David Vandyke has always expected to win a stakes race with mare Frangipani Moon but it came a little earlier than expected at Doomben.
Ridden in a rails-hugging manner by jockey Jake Bayliss, Frangipani Moon ($19) got up to beat Shalwa ($11) in a driving finish to the Listed Just Now Stakes (1350m).
Frangipani Moon was bred by Oakey vet David Pascoe and his wife Heather who have been major players in Queensland racing for decades.
Vandyke, who won the first race with Red Stiletto, said it had been his aim all along to win a black-type race for the Pascoes with the mare.
“Heather and David are great clients and supporters. They own just about the whole family of Frangipani Moon and to get black-type for them is a great thrill,” he said.
“I wasn’t over confident today but Jake told me he thought she could win. Jake was going to be a hero or a villian with his rails ride but it has worked out well.
“Frangipani Moon is not a Magic Millions horse but there are plenty more fillies and mares race for her.”
Frangipani Moon is by prominent sire Spirit Of Boom and had been placed at her four previous starts.
“She is a funny horse who need things to go right but she can win again,” he said.
Stephanie Thornton, who rode Shalwa, said having to come across early from a wide barrier had told at the finish.
Eight-year-old mare Mewstone Rock earned herself another crack at black-type races with her fast-finishing third.