Liberty Vue was successful in only his second start when he won the 1412m De Bortoli Maiden Plate at Echuca yesterday. In what many considered to be a very strong maiden he hung on to win by .02 of a length. It was an exceptional training performance by Mick and Donna and confirmation of the belief that they had in his ability from the time he was broken in at the stables.

 An outstanding ride by Dean Holland saw him jump Ok from the barriers and settle in fourth place on the rails. At about the 600m mark he was given a dig by Holland and moved up to third, three wide on the turn. On straightening he continued to improve, he went to the lead about 150m from the post and was never headed. Holland stated that he was of the opinion that the winning margin could have been further but he star gazed when he hit the front and switched off for a short time, a set of blinkers for his next start was recommended. Holland was of the opinion that he should get out to 1600m and that connections should have a lot of fun racing him.

Liberty Vue has taken time to get to the races, he had problems early on with being immature, he suffered shin soreness and had a virus and had to be rested for a period of time. He was a barrier rogue, the first time he was given a jump out he obviously thought that the barriers were a good place to dine and promptly sat down on the track and started to eat. The first time he went for his racing ticket he failed to load and missed out. A decision was made to send him to Mick Newton a highly regarded local breaker, pre trainer, trainer and farrier. Newton worked his magic and within a short period of time corrected his manners and gained his racing ticket. Newton was also impressed with his ability and gave him a big tick of approval.

Congratulations to his very patient owners, Norm Gaskin, Rodney Arthur, Mark Baxter, Wayne Bemrose, Bob Bird, Dean Costello, Robert Cowell, Rochelle Daley, Rick Ducat, Gerard McDonnell, Bill McLean, Paul Monigatti, Adam Thompson, Leigh Thompson & Scott Worsnop. Their patience has been well rewarded and should continue to be so.