Three in a row for Turn O The Tide at Alexandra Park

By Jordyn Bublitz 

Friday night's Northern Metro Finals at Alexandra Park delivered two worthy winners, but it was the performance of Turn O The Tide that stole the show.

The four-year-old son of Captaintreacherous continued his faultless campaign, taking the victory in the Northern Metro Pacers Final to extend his unbeaten record this preparation to three wins from as many starts.

Prepared by Steve and Amanda Telfer from Stonewall Stud's Clevedon base, Turn O The Tide was made to earn every inch of Friday's success.

After drawing awkwardly on the second row, driver David Butcher settled the gelding near the rear of the field before launching a three-wide move with 1400m to run.

The pair eventually worked to the parked position heading into the final lap, but there was no respite.

At the 500m, they loomed alongside the race leader, Mama's Wish, and the two talented pacers locked into a stirring duel, quickly putting a sizeable gap on the chasing pack.

Stride for stride they fought all the way to the line, with Turn O The Tide refusing to surrender, getting the deciding bob in right where it mattered to score by a nose in one of the stand-out finishes of the night.

Speaking to Trackside's Nicole Sims after the race, co-trainer Steve Telfer was full of praise for his improving pacer.

"It's exciting stuff, they really fought it out. I'm really pleased with our guy. Very proud of him. He can have a few quiet days in the paddock now."

"With horses like him you're always hopeful that they'll mature into themselves like this, and you just hope that you'll do the right thing by them as a trainer."

"He's really matured, his attitude's gotten better and he's heading in the right direction."

"Hopefully he can keep handling the step up."

Earlier in the evening, the Northern Metro Trotters Final went the way of Viscount Mackendon, who produced a dominant display to hand the Wallis and Hackett combination a deserved feature race success.

The convincing victory capped off a successful night for the connections, with the trotting powerhouse stable bringing up three winners across the card.

Their other winners were Rependant and Son Of The Cleaner, with all three driven by Crystal Hackett.