The Robert Wilson-trained squaregaiter notched his first victory since March, 2017 when spearing up the passing lane to win yesterday’s feature trot for driver Nathan Williamson.
De Vito had previously been a consistent trotter before sustaining a hoof injury that turned his career upside down, Wilson said.
‘‘He had a terrible problem with one of his front feet — he basically lost all of one of his front hooves, it was that bad.
‘‘He had to have a year out because of it, but it set him back two years, really.’’
De Vito was not sighted on a race track between March of 2017 and July of 2018.
Despite his long break away from racing, the hoof problem still plagued the trotter on his return.
De Vito had raced sparingly between his resumption and his win in race 8 yesterday.
Wilson said the victory made up for some of the frustrations his owners had experienced over the past 27 months.
‘‘It definitely helps — it’s great to get him back winning and it is great for the syndicate.
‘‘He felt really strong when I worked him this week, and I thought could go better than he had been showing.’’
De Vito is raced by the Balfour Syndicate, and notched his sixth win for the group yesterday.
The 7yr-old scored by a head over runner-up Neverneverland.
Trick Star was a further neck away in third place in an exciting finish to the 2600m handicap.
