THINGS didn't look so rosy for favourite Zipping Brady in Monday's Bathurst RSL Club Stakes (520 metres) at Kennerson Park when he clashed with another runner and surrendered his lead.
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But he was ready to pull off a big rescue effort.
Zipping Brady ($1.60), trained by Rob Tyler, arrived at the Bathurst track with a handy record of two wins and a runner-up finish and was making his long awaited return from injury.
His first start in almost half a year would prove to be an eventful one.
He got away well from the boxes and spent the length of the straight battling for the lead with Rod McDonald's runner Sell More Houses.
But Zipping Brady drifted wide into Sell More Houses on the opening turn, giving inside runners Silent Shadow and Nangar Freedom a clear lane to blow right by.
Silent Shadow and Nangar Freedom raced side-by-side at the halfway point with several lengths breathing room over Zipping Brady.
That margin was quickly gobbled up by the favourite who found a way back to the front of the field along the rail.
The leading trio carried a three length lead into the turn for home.
Silent Shadow handled the turn much better than Zipping Brady and briefly worked in front of Tyler's runner, the two rubbing shoulders constantly as they straightened for home.
Nangar Freedom joined in on the fun to make it an exciting three-dog wall in the run to the line but Zipping Brady found another level to win by half a length.
"He was going really well before he was out with an injury for a few months," Tyler said of his winner.
"He had an injury shoulder and he took a bit of time to get his fitness back but he went really good tonight."
Silent Shadow held onto second place over the fast finishing Nangar Freedom in a photo finish.
Tyler wasn't done there, also taking out the next race with his bitch Zipping Truvy in a sensational time.
Zipping Truvy won the feature Ladbrokes Red Dog Series Stakes in a time of 35.79, coming up just a tenth of a second shy of breaking the 618m track record.
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