Sue Grills' local knowledge came to the fore at Tamworth on Friday.
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The Tamworth trainer was one of the few who thought with any form of conviction that Arleta had got home in the Kosciouszko Tickets on Sale Now Benchmark 66 Handicap (1200m) after the seven-year old, Cody Morgan's Yulong Base and Bill Perrett's The Pharoah all hit the line together.
"I thought she'd won, because she was on the outside," Grills replied when asked by Sky Thoroughbred Central what her thoughts were at the finish.
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Back towards the tail of the field heading into the straight, Arleta unleashed a powerful burst over the final 200m to reel in The Pharoah, who had led virtually all race, and edge out Yulong Base.
The $2.05 favourite, Yulong Base missed the start but was able to work his way into the race and went virtually stride-for-stride with Arleta over the final stages.
Ridden by Greg Ryan, it was the mare's first win since July last year.
"I thought she could win today because she improved on her last run," Grills said referring to a sixth at Tamworth on July 24.
She was then first-up from a 33 week spell.
"She's had a lot of problems but we gave her six months off and it seems to have helped her," she said.
As did the wet track.
"She loves it," Grills said.
"I was saying don't call these races off."
They weren't quite able to get through the eight races. Following persistent rain throughout the meeting, the last two races were abandoned due to the deteriorating track conditions after concerns were raised about visibility and excessive kickback.
