THERE was only a half neck in it, but that was enough for Nathan Hurst's Getaloadathisbro to notch up the first win of his career on Monday afternoon at the Bathurst Paceway.
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The three-year-old had four starts prior to Monday's TAB Odds and Evens Maiden Pace (1730m) and had been well beaten in each of those runs.
The closest he'd come to success for the Eglinton trainer-driver was a 38 metres sixth at Dubbo last September.
Going from barrier nine in the maiden race on Monday, Getaloadathisbro was rated a $14 chance.
Hurst was happy to follow out Shes Koala Tee (barrier one) and sit in the trail and then ducked into the sprint lane.
With 100m to go Hurst's chance nosed in front and while the $1.50 favourite, Mat Rue's Platinum Promise, surged it wasn't enough.
"I probably thought I did [win], but only just. I wasn't 100 percent sure," Hurst admitted.
"He's sort of taken a little bit to come, but he's getting there now.
"Just with that good draw that was the plan [to sit in the trail]. It sort of worked out the way I thought it might."
The best result for the Dubbo trainers early on was the third-placed finish for Lex Bramble's Im Alrite.
After sitting deep for much of the trip in the Bourke's Horse Rugs Pace (1730m), reinsman Brett Hutchings and $41 outsider Im Alrite rattled home along the extreme inside to finish behind Peter Bullock's Happychappyshannon ($13) and the Bernie Hewitt-trained $3.80 favourite. Heidi Boom