BENDIGO trainer Kym Hann is sure to have taken plenty of encouragement from Swing With Junior's debut win at Ararat on Tuesday.
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The three-year-old filly, who is part-owned by Hann's parents, raced greenly throughout, but still had a more than enough edge in class on his rivals to win by more than a length ahead of the favourite Tycoon Bucks over the 1100m distance, with the front-running Sequalus in third.
Swing With Junior justified the punters' faith by winning after she was backed in from $20 to $9.60.
The filly was having only her second race start and showed sharp improvement on her 10th on debut at Bendigo back in April.
Stable spokesperson Kaylie Newton said the team had headed to Ararat reasonably confident of success.
"The filly has been going really well and she's got a lot of potential. It's good to finally get a win," she said on Racing.com.
"Her mother (Swing With Me) actually won her maiden here (at Ararat) by six-lengths, so we were hoping to break the maiden with her as well.
"She's matured a lot this prep - she was very green last start and having seen that race she's still a bit green.
"She is training very well for us."
Swing With Me, who won her maiden in April of 2014, went on to win four of 23 career starts (with five minor placings) before her retirement in 2016.
Hann and Newton had extra cause for cheer on Tuesday, with Swing With Junior one of the first horses they have bred.
There was an added thrill for jockey Chelsea Hall, who picked up the late ride on the filly after John Robertson was unable to make the weight.
Hall went into the race with the benefit of having ridden Swing With Junior in a trial at Tatura last month and with plenty of insight into the filly's abilities.
"With her greenness, she just wanted to keep ducking behind (Sequalus), but I knew once she got out she would have a good turn of foot," she said.
"When I trialled her the other day, she trialled really well.
"I think (she has a future), she's still doing plenty wrong, but she was hitting the line okay."
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