After closing strongly from the back and just missing last week, Mike Hennessy was more aggressive with Custard Lite in the $9,000 Fillies & Mares Open on Saturday (June 1) and that change in tactics paid off handsomely.
Hennessy positioned Custard Lite sixth and second from last in Saturday's feature event at Century Downs as Thats It (Rod Hennessy) made the early call of :28.2 ahead of favoured Cusdmagicdragon (Kelly Hoerdt). Custard Lite was right-lined as the field passed by the Century tarmac and advanced swiftly, prompting an outer-flow move from Scardy Cat (Brandon Campbell) from third. Hoerdt chose to sit the pocket behind Thats It, who reached by the midway mark in a tepid :58.3.
When Thats It came under siege from Scardy Cat down the backstretch, she -- unfortunately for Hoerdt and the mare's own connections -- lived up to her name and started to falter fairly quickly. Scardy Cat cleared to the top through an accelerated 1:26 third panel, leaving Custard Lite first up and Cusdmagicdragon stuck third along the rail.
Hoerdt was able to find a seam around the final turn for Cusdmagicdragon but had four lengths to make up on the front-stepping duo of leader Scardy Cat and challenger Custard Lite. You Talk To Much (Keith Clark) had followed Custard Lite around the racetrack and was positioned second-over turning for home. Clark tipped her into the three path as Hoerdt darted Cusdmagicdragon to the inside. In deep stretch, Custard Lite forged to the front and had enough left to hold off the bid of You Talk Too Much by a neck while Cusdmagicdragon was just a half-length back in third.
Owned by trainer Rod Hennessy along with co-owner Lorne Duffield, Custard Lite (Custard The Dragon - Enlightened One) picked up the second win of her four-year-old campaign and 12th lifetime. The winner's share of the purse lifted the mare's earnings to $187,338.
For the full results from Century's Saturday card, click the following link: Saturday Results - Century Downs.