Berserker was having his fourth start and after he put the writing on the wall with an eye-catching second at his previous outing, punters warmed to the gelded son of Mawingo and sent him around the $2.70 favourite.

However, rider Bulent Muhcu had to weave some magic after being held up at two crucial stages of the race, but managed to find gaps at the right times in the straight to power home and hold off a determined challenge from Jackjack ($11 into $6.50) with rank outsider Grand Pegasus ($101) third.

"He was too immature to race at two and this season we chose to target lower grade races instead of feature three-year-old events with the hope of putting good money in the bank and then concentrate on testing him in better races as a four and five-year-old," Stephen Shaw said.

"We picked this race as the first one we wanted to win as it was a Tasbred Bonus race with an extra $20,000 added to the stake, so it has worked out well.

"There is a maiden-class one over 1600m in Hobart on Cup Day and that's another Tasbred bonus race so if he wins that then the plan will be complete, and the main owner Ross Nichols would be rapt because the horse will have banked about $70,000 from five starts."