Last shall be first

Much travelled Neon’s Last made a winning debut for trainers Tony & Calvin McEvoy at Donald on Saturday, May 3.

Originally trained in Victoria, the four-year-old spent a period in South Australia where he won a maiden at Port Augusta, before joining the McEvoys.

Neon’s Last is owned by John and Mary Knight who made the trip to Donald to watch him score in the Bet365 Rating 58 Handicap (1200m).

Rider Jake Duffy settled the gelding in fourth spot before angling him inside in the home straight.

Neon’s Last ($5.50) dashed through to grab a 1-1/4 length victory from Judge Kellie ($12) with Magic Drum ($7) a half-length away third.

Rayan Moore, Racing Manager for McEvoy Mitchell, said there would not be many horses which had won on the dirt at Port Augusta then come to Victoria to win on the grass.

“Neon’s Last was impressive today and we believe he can go on and win a few more,” Moore said.

“Jake (Duffy) gave him a 10/10 ride.

“The fact he has won on the dirt augurs well for the synthetic season coming up at Ballarat but I’m sure he can win again on the grass before then. He is a bit of a quirky horse, and we put the blinkers on him today.”

Winning jockey Jake Duffy said Neon’s Last had been super.

“He is a pretty straight forward horse,” Duffy said.

“He began well, and we were able to get a nice run behind them.

“They didn’t want to go anywhere near the fence and drifted up the track.

“Based on what I had been told that he could hang in, I went back to the inside. Funnily enough, if anything, he wanted to hang out. He is quirky horse in that regard.

“Everything else about him is straight forward.

“It was a nice easy win.”