IF THERE is anything Neil Dyer likes more in racing than training a winner, it's doing it with the progeny of his former stable star Mrs Bently.
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The Kyneton trainer was at it again on Thursday when Latest Bentley added his fifth career win at career start number 42.
Just like his famous mother did throughout a career which yielded 13 wins, including Cups success at Kyneton and Mildura, the seven-year-old gelding appears to be getting better as he ages.
Latest Bentley ($5.60) has won two of his last six starts and entered Thursday's 1450m benchmark 58 event third-up with a pair of seconds to his name at his past two runs.
In-form jockey Jack Hill was forced to dig deep to stave off a late-charging by Spensierato (Rhys McLeod), but the well-supported seven-year-old showed his trademark toughness to hang on and win by a mere .1 of a length, much to the joy of Dyer.
"I was a little bit worried right on the line - I was waiting for the winning post to come into view," he said.
"I reckon Jack (Hill) would have been rubbing his hands together during the run.
"He sprinted at the top of the straight and I thought he was going to win pretty easy, but it got very close. But he's a trier and he kept going."
Mrs Bently is never too far from Dyer's thoughts. Now aged 26, she lives on his Kyneton property and spends her time 'babysitting a Cable Bay filly'.
The experienced trainer continues to derive plenty of satisfaction from her progeny and was optimistic of more wins in store with Latest Bentley.
"All the geldings out of (Mrs Bently) have won, but the fillies have been a little bit touchy and haven't won races," Dyer said.
"All those geldings have been good honest horses.
"He (Latest Bentley) is a seven-year-old and I just feel he is racing better than he has in his life.
"I train him out of a paddock - that's the only thing I've tried different and it seems to be working."
Speaking post-race, Hill, who backed up from a double the previous day at Echuca with a win on Latest Bentley, admitted to thinking he had been nutted on the line, but praised the gelding's ability to finish the race off.
"I was pretty happy with where I ended up (in the run), how I was travelling and how everything worked out," he said.
"The only thing I was worried about was, probably about the 150m mark when he really hit the front, he was waiting for something to come to him.
"It's a good thing to learn with him that going forward I don't have to get to the front too early with him, I can be the chaser."
Dyer had no qualms with the run of his other horse in the race Bolek, who led the field into the straight and continued to look a winning chance at the 100m before finishing fifth.
"We just have to find the right little track for him - I'm not worried about the distance," he said.
"He's copping the ground alright, but we'll just get him back to a tight, smaller track."
Bolek was attempting to back up from an impressive last start win at Tatura on November 21.
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