Historic victory in Blue Riband

TODAY’S Victoria Trotters’ Derby result had people reaching for the history books.

Causing an upset in the Maryborough-based Blue Riband, Not As Promised scored at $41 for Queensland horseman Graham Dwyer.

The question was…had a squaregaiter from the Sunshine State won the Derby since its inception in 1914 when captured by Lucid?

The short answer is “No”.

Not As Promised is the first ‘Banana bender’ to claim the Group One in more than a century!

“That’s unbelievable,” Dwyer said. “It’s not something you necessarily give thought to, but it is something to be proud of.

“Queensland doesn’t traditionally have the strongest trotters in Australia, and it was a big move bringing him down, but we felt he deserved the chance given what he’d been doing at home, so we thought let’s do it.

“Tony Veivers bought him from Victoria and has owned him for seven starts now and he’s won six of them, while the other was a good fourth in the Derby heat.”

Driven by Nathan Dawson, Not As Promised was given time to settle into his stride from his second row draw before being sent forward to test the leader, Lovemeto, from the breeze.

Showing an incredible amount of intestinal fortitude along the home straight, the son of Betting Line staved off a late charge from Prince Of Rock to score by a short half-head.

The Locomotive was two-and-a-half metres away third in 1:59.6 over 2690 metres.

“This is the biggest thrill of my life,” Veivers said. “It is a champion family effort from the Dwyer’s, including their son Layne.

“Layne is only 16, but has been instrumental with this horse’s preparation.

“So much so, I asked Graham to let Layne miss school to stay in Victoria with the horse to oversee his Breeders’ Crown preparation in coming weeks.

“Overall though, as I said, everyone involved with the horse, including Nathan, has done a wonderful job.”