Promising youngster continues perfect season

PROMISING youngster Tembie continued his perfect start to the season with a feature win at Globe Derby last Saturday night.

Unbeaten from three starts this term, the Dale Afford-trained proved too good in the time-honoured St Leger.

Having won his final outing as a two-year-old, Tembie boasts a four-run winning streak, with his overall tally sitting on seven victories and three placings from 16 starts for earnings of $32,471.

Naturally thrilled with the son of Vincent, Afford is quietly confident Tembie can extend his sequence in coming weeks.

“I couldn’t be happier with the way he is going,” Afford said. “He showed on Saturday night he still has a bit of learning to do, but he is progressing just as we thought he would.

“He showed a fair bit of potential last season and I always felt he would get better with racing.

“His tongue tie came loose during the run which made him start to hang, so it is little things like that which can still be ironed out.

“There is a Final at the end of the month, with heats in a couple of weeks I will aim him at and hopefully he can keep the wins coming.

“It’s only going to get harder as others like Miss Idaho come back, but he will give them something to chase.”

With Afford holding the reins, Tembie led throughout from barrier two, rating 1:56.5 over 1800 metres as Alive And Free and Wings On The Line filled the placings.

“It was a small but pretty even field with a few nice types in it, but with fitness and the draw on his side, I felt he would be too good,” Afford said.