Micro Mary ‘better with age’

Press, 9 August 1988, Page 35

Micro Mary ‘better with age’

Micro Mary, which failed to conceive to the Nero stallion Paulsboro (1:54.2) last spring, won the fourth race of her career at Timaru yesterday. But her one-length win over Charming George and Lady Rana in the Glenwood Takeaways Pace is unlikely to prevent her from prolonging

her race career after this breeding season. “She will probably go to stud again, but we haven’t discussed it yet,” said the mare’s Ashburton trainerreinsman, John Hay. “This will help pay for the stud fee anyway,” he said. A seven-year-old daughter of Micron, a former Inter-Dominion heat winner, and a Nevele Bigshot mare, Hand Bare, Micro Mary has come back better than ever. “Her owner, Russell Hill of Invercargill, said she is from a breed that gets better with age,” said Hay. “But she must have been crook last spring when she was going no good. “She was a bit stiff when third, first-up, at

Addington last month,” he said. Having her forty-eighth start yesterday, Micro Mary did not have to leave the fence in the run home to win going away. Hay positioned her three places back on the fence and found a gap inside the pacemaking Charming George to drive the mare through over the closing stages. The leaders paced their closing 800 m in 59.4. Charming George, the

favourite, was taken on in front by Netherton Abbe (1900 m Lochout (1200 m and Falcon Hanover (over the last 1000 m), and could not withstand Micro Mary’s solid finish. Lady Rana, which trailed, fought on for third a length back, with the backmarker, Final Offer, which made a big run to be in the open momentarily at the 1100 m, finishing on again for fourth.