RACEGOERS flocked to the Moruya Racecourse for the Easter Cup race meeting on Saturday.
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More than 2000 people filled the grounds for the competitive five-race event at which three Moruya trainers claimed a win.
The major race on the card was the Benchmark 70 (1425m) Easter Cup and Moruya trainer Lynda Bundy took it out with My Private Dancer ($4).
Neil Perryman rode the six-year-old gelding to its seventh win, by a head, after going toe-to-toe with Luke Pepper’s veteran Quichang and John Law’s third-placed Four Fortyfour in the home straight.
Bundy said the track was in “perfect condition,” which meant competitive racing.
“It was a tricky little field which was always going to be tough,” Bundy said.
She said Perryman’s relationship with the gelding helped its performance.
“Neil made a great effort to stay with the horse,” she said.
“He brought her through the back of the field and once he got out of the congestion, he had a good run for the line.”
In the first race, a 1010m maiden plate, Chicka Pearson’s two-year-old gelding Painted Warrior with Kevin Sweeney aboard held on for its first win.
The ($3) favourite finished one-and-a-half lengths ahead of Brett Jones’ Wings Of A Dove, and Chris Hensler’s Liam Da Torio, to give Moruya trainers a trifecta.
In the second race Kembla Grange’s Graeme Murray got his first win with three-year-old filly Fast Bambina.
It beat fellow out-of-town raiders Onemoretime and Pradier to win the 1300m race.
The longest race of the day went to Moruya’s Thomas Lyttle, whose four-year-old gelding Rush Indulgence strode home in the straight, holding on for a one-length victory in the third.
It was Rush Indulgence’s second victory in 11 starts as he finished ahead of Kingsmead and Pepper’s Changing Notes.
Lyttle praised hoop Kevin Sweeney for his work to get the gelding home.
“It was a lovely run and good judgement was shown by Kevin Sweeney,” Lyttle said.
“He was sitting out the back then Kevin made the decision from the 1300m mark.
“He got out well enough in the straight to hold on.”
The final race of the day went to Moruya Cup-winning trainer Rado Boljun and his four-year-old gelding Suffolk Punch.
Suffolk Punch ran home against the fence in the 1010m race to beat John Marzol’s Joke A Lot and Greg Backhouse’s Mr Burns.
Moruya Jockey Club manager Brian Cowden said the competitive racing and attendance provided a “great day of racing”.
“It was a typical Easter crowd and the weather turned it on,” Cowden said.
“We didn’t break our record crowd from last year but it was another great event.”