Robert Smerdon, who almost sacked Cabazon as a two-year-old, was rewarded for a change of heart when she won the Strutt Stakes at Elwick in Hobart.Smerdon said he had all but given up on the daughter of Redoute's Choice, who weighs only 420kg, but after checking her pedigree he decided to persevere with her as she was well-related on her dam's side.The filly is out of the Alzao mare Cambiata, a 2200m winner.Ridden by champion jockey Damien Oliver, who replaced the injured Peter Hutchinson, Cabaz
Robert Smerdon, who almost sacked Cabazon as a two-year-old, was rewarded for a change of heart when she won the Strutt Stakes at Elwick in Hobart.
Smerdon said he had all but given up on the daughter of Redoute's Choice, who weighs only 420kg, but after checking her pedigree he decided to persevere with her as she was well-related on her dam's side.
The filly is out of the Alzao mare Cambiata, a 2200m winner.
Ridden by champion jockey Damien Oliver, who replaced the injured Peter Hutchinson, Cabazon sprinted quickly to score by one-and-a-quarter lengths from the Lee Freedman-trained Pink Siris with local filly Speedy Sky a half-neck away third.
Hutchinson couldn't take the mount because he had a track fall last week, suffering a bruised kidney and a broken hand.
"She was bred by the owner. You wouldn't buy her looking at her," Smerdon said after winning the Listed fillies race for the first time.
"I had a runner in (the race) a long time ago," he said.
Smerdon said Cabazon had been stabled at Tasmanian trainer David Brunton's property at Seven Mile Beach.
"It's a good spot down at the beach, but I have to decide whether to leave her here or take her home and bring her back for the Oaks," he said.
The Listed $150,000 Tasmanian Oaks (2100m) is run at Launceston on Sunday week.
Tasmania has been a happy hunting ground for Smerdon. He has won a Hobart Cup with Lady Have A Heart, a Launceston Cup with Streak and a Tasmanian Oaks with Masterkova.