By Phil Percival
It was a liquorice all sorts weekend of racing with a bit of everything. It was the Ryan Maloney and Jaden Lloyd day at Doomben with both hoops riding a double.
The Warwick Race Club staged a very successful Sky main channel nine race program last Thursday, with many leading Brisbane trainers and jockeys participating.
The old marvel Barry Baldwin produced his second winner for the week, Ascot Express, not a bad strike rate with just 12 horses in his Eagle Farm stable. In a lovely aside, the horse is majority owned by a bunch of men who went to primary school and grew up in Ascot in the late 70s and early 80s, hence the horse’s name.
Outstanding young apprentice Dylan Gibbons won four races at Rosehill, apprentices won six of the nine races on the card.
Rockhampton owned and trained Master Jamie won back to back Rockhampton Cups, making it three Rocky Cups for his jockey Les (Bubba) Tilley, and taking the horse’s, winning record to 19 wins and 20 placings from 55 starts and a staggering $1.1m in prizemoney. What a great horse he has
been for connections.
This year’s Beaudesert Cup was run and won by the Bevan Laming trained Kaiberry.
It looks like one of our favourites, the master trainer Peter Moody and his young staff are all in a smiling mood after another top sprinting mare in Sigh who won the Sir John Monash Handicap at Caulfield on Saturday. The No Nay Never sired mare has now won an impressive seven from 10 starts, building a good record over the last few months.
It’s always great to see Pete in the winner’s box. The saga almost destroyed his and many other careers and reputation when the Colbalt saga filled all the sporting pages. This was a period that will go down in history as a debacle, where a simple check of feed bins could have solved things overnight. Lessons to be learned here for the heavy handlers and not one that should be forgotten too soon.
By the way, all racing folk would enjoy Pete’s book, “a long way from Wyandra, my story from the bush to Black Caviar”.
Finally, still in Melbourne trainer Julius Sandhu trained his first double at Caulfield, with Thorin and Ulysses both saluting. Sandhu might only have recently joined Melbourne training ranks but he had a 30-year thoroughbred association in his native India where he was tutored by legendary Bangalore trainer A B David. He is the Bart Cummings of Indian racing with 150 Group One winners.
I’ve mentioned a few times recently how significant Queensland’s provincial cities have become in race meeting program; Rockhampton tops the list. Friday racing was once considered the third spoke in the betting wheel after mid-week and Saturday racing. That was based on tradies and working
men knocking off early and heading to the pub on Friday afternoon. Rocky’s Friday meeting had nine races over 110 starters and no less than 12 SEQ trainers including the king himself Tony Gollan.
Racing sure has changed.
It might be winter and lower-class racing, but rest assured the Sydney and Melbourne Spring Carnival stars are well into their preparations. I’m reliably told many are about to start serious gallops in coming weeks and that there will be a poultice of them trialling late July and early August
and starting their racing campaigns shortly thereafter.
At best, barring injury, the good ones only have a month to six weeks spell in the paddock. It’s all on again folks in six weeks’ time.
In July and at the end of the SEQ Winter Carnival, it’s the time that the big name trainers and jockeys have their annual overseas holidays. Just look at the jockey lists at Caulfield, Randwick and Doomben last Saturday and you will see what I mean.
Pccasionally, if a trainer or jockeys’ premiership is in the offing they will postpone their travels, but many jump on the silver budgie.
Most of the guns want to be on hand in August for the lead up into the big spring carnivals and the new season two-year-olds having their first gallops getting ready for an October kick-off.
The Magic Millions tends to be the other holiday period for our top liners. While it’s not a complete break from racing the workload drops dramatically and families are able to spend 10 days to a fortnight in January lapping up the Gold Coast’s famous beaches and festive season. As I’ve said
often its a 16-18 hours a day, seven days a week slog for these folks. Just like the horses they train and ride, they too, need to have a spell.
An Irishman was in New York patiently waiting to cross a busy street. There was a traffic cop manning the crossing. The cop stopped after a few minutes and told those waiting to cross the road, ‘Okay pedestrians’, he said, ‘Let’s go’. The Irishman stood waiting, growing more and more frustrated. After five minutes he shouted to the cop, ‘Here! The pedestrians crossed ages ago – when’s it time for the Catholics?!’”
