Happy holidays for Jollience winning pair

Barry Huppatz returns to scale aboard the Gary Clarke-trained It's Home after the NT News Handicap (1600m) at Fannie Bay yesterday. Picture: JUSTIN SANSON Source: NT News

The duo won the last race at Fannie Bay yesterday, the Endfire Engineering Handicap, before they fly to northern Europe for a cold Christmas.

Apprentice Bergstrand, who was born in Sweden, and Jollience came from last to first in the 1200m race to give the six-year-old gelding the fifth win of his career.

Jollience pipped Hamish Boy (Rian Mageean) by three-quarters of a length, with Pollard's Magnificent Seven (Wayne Davis) third.

Bergstrand and Pollard agreed the win was a good going away Christmas present.

"He always comes from behind," Bergstrand said. "Every time I try to ride him with the rest of the field, he never seems to have much left in the tank up the straight."

Pollard was impressed with the performance of both horse and jockey.

"He does not come out to lead," he said. "He likes to do it at his own pace. Send him hard early and he doesn't finish off. Let him do his own thing and he catches them."

In the opener, the Gusher TROBIS Maiden Plate, apprentice jockey Alana Brown celebrated winning her first race in four months when Sea Horse romped home.

The four-year-old mare was having her first start in Darwin after being relocated from Victoria.

Second, three lengths behind the winner, was Stylish Cruiser (Scott Hillebrand) with Bullock Heart (Mageean) third.

Brown said that despite a sluggish start, the result was never in doubt.

"She did jump well," said Brown, who suffered a back injury after this year's Darwin Cup Carnival. "She can be quite lazy at trackwork. She did it pretty easy really."

There was a thrilling finish to the second race, the Crocosaurus Cove Handicap (1300m), with less than a length separating the first three in the five-horse field.

Honours went to the Pollard-trained Huracan (Hillebrand), whose late lunge at the line was enough to defeat the fast-finishing Sakhero (Vanessa Arnott), trained by Jason Manning.

Bugsy, the second of three Pollard runners, was third, with Bergstrand on board.

Hillebrand was pleased with the win after he finished sixth of six last Saturday.

"I told Chris last week to back him up because he needed the run," Hillebrand said.