Their Finest Hour(3yo gelding by Brave Smash) broke through for his maiden victory in a 1000m Maiden Plate at Coffs Harbour Racecourse, with a total prize pool of $27,000. In his third career start, the gelding settled just behind the leaders, conserved energy, and launched a powerful run down the outside of the track to surge past the frontrunners in the final stages.

Before the race, Daiki expressed confidence, stating, “The barrier draw has worked in our favour, and if he reproduces the kind of effort we saw in his recent trial, he’ll be right in the finish. There are no certainties in racing, but against this field, I’m hopeful he can secure a strong win and set his sights on greater heights.”

Their Finest Hour has been piloted by Nori in all his starts, including his pre-debut barrier trial. He showed promise with consecutive second-place finishes in his first two runs and duly justified his status as race favorite this time, scoring his maiden win as the $1.70 top pick.

Daiki reflected on the conditions after the race: “Although officially rated as Good 4, the track had a bit of stickiness after the rain and was just starting to dry. Our race was the sixth of the day, and up until then, every winner had been locally trained, which made me slightly concerned about track adaptability despite the strong market support. However, he put those doubts to rest, sitting midfield before sweeping wide in the straight and powering home for the win. He’s still a bit green, showing signs of immaturity in his run, but that also indicates he has plenty of room to develop further.”