With the country's leading reinsman, Dexter Dunn, in the sulky and three placings in the last four starts, the Robert Wilson-trained mare was sent out favourite in the 2200m c0 trot and duly delivered by a length over Rosie Express.
Wilson said much of the credit for Spotlight The Valley's win had to go to Petra Luzumova, who had worked for Wilson for the last two years and had done most of the work with Spotlight The Valley.
Luzumova is returning home to the Czech Republic for Christmas, so Wilson was pleased she was at the track to see the daughter of Skyvalley win.
The 4yr-old is owned by the Sunbeam syndicate, which has members from Te Anau, Roxburgh, Timaru, Christchurch and Balfour, Wilson said.
''We had it at home and worked it at home between Billy [Heads] and us,'' Wilson said.
‘‘She's a lovely wee horse.
‘‘It's actually closely related to King Denny if you go back through the pedigree - and they're probably about the same size.''
●Mataura horseman Lyndon Bond registered his first training victory when Martin McGuinness, driven by Nathan Williamson, burst up the passing lane to win a c0 mobile pace.
Bond (44) has five horses in work which he mixes with his job as the day shift foreman in the chambers at the Alliance Mataura freezing works.
His twin daughters, Courtney and Chloe (13), already have the bug, helping out Bond and his father, Jimmy.
Bond has carried on using the brown with turquoise spots driver's colours synonymous with his father, and was thrilled to register his first win after a luckless first season in 2014-15.
‘‘When I saw Nathan kick up the fence, I was beside Ross Wilson and his son. They said I was going to win it and I started cheering,'' Bond said.''It's all that behind-the-scenes work that pays off in the long run.''
●Brad Williamson was surprised to hear the race time after Heard The Whisper took care of the c1-c3 trot field, downing 80-1 outsider Grace Lightning in the straight.
Heard The Whisper recorded a corrected time of 3.31.75 off his 20m mark.
Williamson said the tempo felt more like a 3.36.0 time during the running, prompting his mid-race move to the parked position after the first 400m of the last 1600m.
‘‘It felt like they were going a lot slower than they were,'' he said.
‘‘I planned to drive him with one run because he's best driven like that, but it felt like a 35[-second] quarter. So I thought I can't win from back here if they come home in under a minute.''
Heard The Whisper let punters down at Addington last week when he broke stride while leading in the home straight, but Williamson said the 5yr-old felt in control last night.
‘‘He actually knocked off before the line so he's always got a bit more than he's giving us. Another 12 months of racing and he'll be a better horse.''
