Pal's Reward shows toughness on home turf

Hann's only runner on the eight-race program at Bendigo, Pal's Reward gave his rivals plenty chase in winning the 1100-metre benchmark 64 on his home track.

It was the five-year-old gelding's second win from his last four starts.

The son of Reward For Effort and Princess Sunshine previously underlined his versatility by winning over 1100-metres on the Ballarat Synthetic on May 23.

He followed up with a fourth on a heavy 9 at Bendigo on June 19 and a desperately unlucky sixth back on the synthetic five days later when held up for a run.

Pal's Reward showed the benefits of a three-week freshen up, jumping straight to the front under the guidance of Jake Noonan before putting a three-length gap between himself and his nearest rival with 200-metres to travel.

He had just enough in the tank to hold off Cosmic Rhapsody, who flashed home for second, ahead of another late charger Dynamic Sensation.

Part-owner Phil Steers was unsure what the future held for Pal's Reward, with the horse currently advertised for sale.

He was even less certain about whether their horse had held out Cosmic Rhapsody in the tight finish.

"We were hoping ... it's a long straight here," he said.

"On the Ballarat Synthetic a couple of weeks ago he was just unlucky. Had he got out he would have won it we thought.

"But today (Thursday) we were pretty confident."

The win boosted Pal's Reward's overall record to five wins and seven placings from 26 starts, for earnings of $113,723.

Noonan, who has been in the saddle for three of those wins, was always confident the gelding's hard demeanour would be to his advantage on a soft six track suited to on-pacers.

"He's a horse who wants to make his own luck; he's got a high cruising speed," he said.

"Actually walking the track, the inside two or three is a little bit deterred now (after seven races), but it's not soft enough to say that it's at a disadvantage.

"The track's played pretty even - it's in great order. It's great to be on a track on top of the ground. We haven't really raced on surfaces like these for a little while.

"He's a horse who makes his own luck and he was very deserving of it."

Hann, whose 15 winners this season have been achieved across four states, has picked up three wins from 21 starters in Darwin, most recently with Swing With Junior on July 2. He has also notched up 10 placings.

READ MORE: Albiton shows signs of promise in win

There was success also for fellow central Victorian trainer Sue Naylor at Bendigo on Thursday.

The astute Kyneton-based trainer scored a maiden with the raw three-year-old Albiton, who broke through at race start number two over 1100-metres.

The gelded son of Al Maher and Crown Ruby was well ridden by the in-form Dean Holland, who made it two wins this week for Kyneton trainers, following a win aboard Hallowed Ground at Ballarat Synthetic on Tuesday for George Osborne.

Holland made it a treble for the day by winning the benchmark 64 mile on the Archie Alexander-trained Crackerjack Prince and the 1100-metres benchmark 64 on potential stayer Ladymane for Flemington trainer Saab Hasan.

His treble followed a double at Ballarat Synthetic on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, the returning Damien Oliver notched a double by going back-to-back in the opening two races on Cap De Joie (Nick Ryan) and Freeways (James Cummings).

Oliver, who turned 50 last month, returned from a three-week break for two rides at Sabndown on Wednesday before having three at Bendigo.

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