FOR a man who has trained as many winners at Dawson Park as Cook's Gap trainer Len Haaring has, his admission yesterday that winning the $3000 Mayor's Cup Stakes is his best is a very big statement.
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Haaring trained close to 40 winners during a golden six months at Dubbo starting late last year but returned yesterday for the feature race and his talented bitch Isabel Enlim didn't disappoint, producing a stirring comeback in the 516m event to claim victory.
"This is probably one of the best races I've ever won," he said after the presentation.
"I've looked at it for a few years and a couple of months ago I had it in my sights because I knew I had a couple in this litter who were capable of going 500."
After a solid start Isabel Enlim sat third behind Exquisette Kari ($44.20) and Maybelline Lady ($9.60) while pre-race favourite Zipping Brock ($1.90) struggled from box one due to early contact.
Exquisette Kari got out to a three length lead down the back straight and looked all but certain of a win as they approached the bend but Isabel Enlim moved wide and mowed down the Peter Dutton-trained bitch in the home straight to win by a length.
"She jumped as well as I thought she would, she was about second or third and I had my eye on the one dog, she's sensational, so I wanted her to stay in touch and I watched them all up the back straight and they were all going at each other," Haaring said.
"I thought she'd lost it because she put too much in down the back straight but she found something else and she was sensational, it made the win even more worthwhile that she did come from behind."
Haaring described Isabel Enlim as a dog with "a big heart" and admitted she was always the most likely of his litter to win the event due to her form and preparation at meetings at Maitland and Wentworth Park.
Much like most of Haaring's litter, Isabel Enlim now spends most of her time away from Dubbo due to her class but Haaring said he loved being back, especially to savour winning a race like the Mayor's Cup.
"I did fairly well here late last year, we won about 35 races at the track and we had to go somewhere else because the dogs needed a change but I love the track and love coming back here," he said.
"If it was up to me I'd come here all the time but I've got to do what's best by the dogs and we're heading back to Wenty now with her."
Exquisette Kari kept up her recent strong spell of form to hold on to second place while the Craig Ryan-trained Kaliska ($20.40) finished two-and-three-quarter lengths behind in third after making a move down the back straight.
