The Andrea Dailly-trained Ollie Bale gave the successful Anakie kennel their first success in the Group 1 AJS Corporation Silver Chief Classic at The Meadows on Saturday night.
Starting from box eight, Ollie Bale began cleanly from out wide, quickly finding the front on the first corner before striding away for a two and quarter length win in 30.19, defeating Kid Maximus and Top Innings, who finished third for former Australian Test cricket captain Ricky Ponting.
It was the perfect start to the year for leviathan owner Paul Wheeler, who had an outstanding 2013 season on the back of racetrack heroics from the likes of Xylia Allen and Irma Bale.
Handler Tom Dailly thanked the Wheeler family for their support and was glad to break his team’s Silver Chief duck.
“We are really pleased to win this race tonight as the Silver Chief has always been a race that has eluded us, so it is nice to win our first.”
Ollie Bale improved his record to seven wins from 24 starts and a prizemoney level of $129,740.
Of the other finalists, favourite Deadly Vane ($3.60) finished fifth, while Ride The Rails (also in the market at $4.80) ran sixth.
Another highlight of the night’s racing was the performance of Black Magic Opal, breaking the 525-metre first sectional record (4.92) on his way to a sizzling 11-length win in 29.73. The son of Magic Sprite and Awesome Opal was also just .03 outside El Grand Senor’s second sectional record (17.48).
