Asva wins locally dominated Launceston Cup

[Wandering Eyes]

Asva (NZ) (Capitalist) has produced a sharp form reversal from a Hobart Cup failure to victory in the Group 3 Ladbrokes Launceston Cup on Wednesday afternoon.

“I knew I had a fair horse, I put a line through the last run,” winning trainer Glenn Stevenson said.

“If he can get put to sleep in his chance.

“He’s always shown the ability, it’s just been a matter of actually getting mature. It’s a maturity thing that’s been with him, and he’s finally grown into the horse he is.”

Settled worse than midfield, Asva moved three-wide in the back straight with jockey Jett Stanley electing to go for home early five deep around runners aboard the six-year-old and hit the front 400m home.

Trainer and jockey painted two very different pictures of the ride post race.

“To be honest, you sit, and you go ‘what’s happened here, what’s he doing? Oh my God’ He won though so it’s a great ride,” Stevenson said.

“Once we got into the side straight, there was a three wide moving line which I thought would take me where we needed to be,” winning jockey Jett Stanley said.

“From about the 700m, I was going too well. For 2400m horses, if you don’t know whether they can do it or not, there is only one way to test them – that’s just to let them go when they are travelling that well.

“He went around them so easily and effortlessly. From the 200m I was just trying to think of my salute.”

Bred by Rosemont Stud, Asva was secured for $100,000 by Peter Snowden at the 2021 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale at Karaka, where he was apart of the Mapperley Stud draft.

Asva is out of the Dylan Thomas mare First Bloom, a five-time winner on the track and a runner-up in the Tasmanian Oaks.

First Bloom produced the accomplished Te Akau runner Fierce Flight (Flying Artie). A graduate of the Ready to Run Sale, Fierce Flight has compiled seven victories in his career, headlined by success in the Hawke’s Bay Cup.

It’s a boilover in the Launceston Cup with Asva saluting at double figures! @stanley_jett and @GTS_racing combine to take out this years edition! pic.twitter.com/oVTt2t2CLJ

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) February 25, 2026

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