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Article and image by Alexander Grant

Winterconi had been a consistently strong, but winless, performer at Tyers Park and that was the case until Monday.

The Dean Mirfin-trained mare finally found the breakthrough on her home track, winning the Central West Electrical F&M Maiden Handicap (1200m) after four previous placings at Bathurst.

Winterconi (Anthony Cavallo, blue cap with white stars) zooms down the outside to score at Bathurst

Winterconi ($2.70 favourite) sat towards the rear of the field throughout the running before being urged along down the outside of the track by Anthony Cavallo to claim a one-length win over Super Cyclone (Greg Ryan, $3).

Bathurst trainer Mirfin almost had both his runners inside the top three, with Wordly Pleasure (Brandon Griffiths, $4.80) beaten by Russian Ahead (Jon Grisedale, $21) in the battle for third.

Mirfin didn’t expect his mare to be sitting in the rear of the field during the early stages of the race but was pleased with how Cavallo handled the race.

“It’s a win that was overdue. She’s now had a win and four placings so she’d been very consistent without winning. It was great for her to break through today,” he said. “I expected she’d be running in a more forward position than where she was in the race. I was surprised when she sat second last but Tony Cavallo’s a good jockey, he knows what he’s doing and he got her to the right place at the right time.”

Russian Ahead and Super Cyclone led the field into the home straight and Winterconi still had plenty of work to do. A gap opened up which allowed Cavallo to take Winterconi off the rail and find the breeze down the centre of the track. It’s a win that was overdue.

Mirfin said Wordly Pleasure’s run for fourth bodes well for her future: “She ran really well. She’s inexperienced and this is her first preparation at the races. She’s run three very good races,” he said.

View the full results with race replays for Bathurst here