Photo: Chanelle Lawson
By Joshua Smith, Harness News Desk
Consistent trotter My Royal Roxy rewarded trainer Ival Brownlee’s patience when winning the Ike Unsworth Bayleys Handicap Trot (2700m) at Cambridge Raceway on Thursday night.
The daughter of Majestic Son began like a bullet off the front row to take an early lead for driver Jay Abernethy who maintained a solid tempo throughout. The pace told on her rivals, with the six-year-old running away to a comfortable 2-1/4 length win.
Brownlee was delighted with the result and he was full of praise for Abernethy’s tactics.
“She is not a bad little horse,” he said. “She is pretty limited but what she did tonight in that grade was pretty good.
“You get the odd one that makes a mistake and you end up in front. He ran her along a little bit.
“It all comes down to the start. She is a really good beginner. If you get a good start and run a good time like she did tonight, it’s really hard for them to make up that ground.”
My Royal Roxy finished fourth when first-up at Cambridge Raceway a fortnight ago and Brownlee took plenty of confidence from that run.
“That was a good run first-up,” he said. “He (Abernethy) didn’t knock her around at all and she was probably unlucky to not get a little bit closer.
“At the moment she seems to be in a really good space, she is eating really well and doesn’t have any tying up problems. Everything has been going really well.”
While My Royal Roxy has been in good form this season, placing in seven of her previous 12 starts this term, Thursday was her first win since 2018.
Coincidentally it was the last time Brownlee’s silks greeted the judge, but he hasn’t been overly perturbed by that.
“We have been knocking on the door plenty of times, but I am not too worried about having the photos up on the wall,” he said. “As long as they are paying their way I am happy.
“She has been a great cashpoint card, she nearly averages $1,000 a start. She has definitely been carrying the team for a while.
“You only need a couple like that in the barn. We have got a couple of young ones coming through that look quite nice, including a full-sister to her, she is a nice animal.”
