Drive crowns maiden win

Coronation Drive showed great heart to score a photo finish maiden win at Mildura on Monday, April 22.

A well backed $2.10 favourite, Coronation Drive, trained by Tony and Calvin McEvoy, had a neck to spare in winning the Nick Burke Plumbing Maiden (1200m) from Xaphan ($3.60) with Valkur ($19) a head away third.

Jockey Harry Coffey had the winner away nicely and was able to settle second in the run to the home turn.

Coffey asked the three-year-old for the supreme effort in the home straight but found plenty of rivals ready to make him work for the win.

Coronation Drive responded to Coffey’s urgings to grab an advantage on the line.

It was the gelding’s first win at just his second start after failing at Sandown on a soft track on race debut.

Trainer Tony McEvoy said he had a good opinion of Coronation Drive.

“It was a nice win,” McEvoy said.

“Harry (Coffey) rode him nice and positively.

“He travelled beautifully, to me, in the run and I thought he might have put them right away.

“He is obviously still learning his craft and I’ll be interested in Harry’s feedback of how he felt at the end of the race, but he got the job done.

“He achieved what we wanted today.

“Before his first up run he looked a Saturday class horse, so the ability is in there, we just have to work out how to get it out of him.”

Winning jockey Harry Coffey said it had been a tougher contest than he thought it would be.

“I knew we meant business today when Tony and Jo landed on course,” Coffey said.

“We would have liked to win a little easier, but he got the job done.

“He’s a bit of a dorky fella, which I think showed at Sandown when he jumped a bit average, I went and got a bit of cover, but he got completely lost and his wheels spun in the soft ground.

“Today, we had him on the job, put him outside the leader and he was still a bit wayward at times, but he got the win, and that is what keeps me my job.