LAST week I suggested it could be a double whammy for Tim Phillips who was riding at the Lockhart Picnic meeting on Friday, as well as the Young-Burrangong Picnic meeting on Saturday.
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Tim went within a nose of making it two Cups in two days as his Cup collection just keeps growing.
He rode in five of the six events on the Lockhart card, with all of his mounts coming from Trevor Sutherland’s Wagga stable.
Tim had a win and two fourths to his credit before the feature Town Cup where he was on Trevor’s Aribaa carrying top weight of 66.5kg.
Unfortunately for Tim it was Trevor’s other runner, Rite Of Honour, carrying 59.5kg, and ridden by Samara Johnson, who got home first by a nose ahead of Aribaa in the close finish.
Tim then finished third in the final race.
It was then on to the Young Picnic meeting on Saturday where he rode in all six races, five mounts once again coming from Trevor’s stable.
Tim won the opening race aboard Brad Witt’s A Little Alert before finishing fourth in the next two races and a third in race five before the feature Burrangong Picnic Cup ended the program.
He was aboard Trevor’s Partexpectation in the Cup, taking out the race by a half-length over Boralyn, ironically ridden by Samara Johnson who had reversed the Cup placings the day before.
I’m sure there would have been an amusing repartee between Tim and Samara as they returned to the mounting yard to celebrate the occasion.
It’s all on again for Tim tomorrow at the much publicised Picnic meeting at Fernhill Estate near Hawkesbury, and I’m sure I’ll be bringing more success stories for Tim from that meeting next week.
Good luck, Tim, we’re all proud of you.
Last week I was lamenting the abandonment of the Cootamundra meeting where Roly Saxton was to be on Joe Cleary’s Landlocked in the annual feature Cup race.
Joe had the gelding accepted for last Friday’s Canberra meeting but scratched him from that, giving preference to Saturday’s big Randwick meeting in town where he lined up in a Benchmark 84 mile with Brodie Loy’s 3kg claim reducing his impost to 52.5kg.
He ran a brilliant fourth, with only about one length separating all four placings in a photo finish.
There can be no doubt that a run anywhere like that would have won the Cootamundra Cup and for Roly it was the one that got away.
Five Moruya runners made the trip to Canberra last Friday and Roly and Neil Perryman were riding there.
Unfortunately Chicka Pearson’s Stake Knife was a late scratching on the vet’s advice from his event, after his terrific second at the track two weeks before. Our other runners all missed placing in their events, and Roly claimed a third and a close fourth from his riding engagements.
John Marzol took three runners, Nice And Alert, Have One On Me and There Is No Drama, to the Forbes meeting on Saturday.
John’s best result from the trio came from Nice And Alert who finished a close third, with Greg Ryan aboard, in the opening Maiden (1200m) sprint.
John also had two runners, When In Doubt and Camillus, step out at Monday’s Leeton meeting.
Young apprentice Megan Taylor had both rides.
Camillus was once again the highlight, leading all the way in the Maiden (1050m) sprint but was demoted in the very last stride to second by Gary Colvin’s race favourite Good Luck Charlie, after the two went head to head over the last 100 metres.
That’s now two brilliant seconds from just three starts and he certainly remains on notice for his next start.
Chris Hensler, Bernie Connell and Mike Gatty had a runner each at Tuesday’s Queanbeyan meeting, conducted in terrible conditions just like it was here, and Roly was riding there.
Roly rode two thirds, both for Joe Cleary, while our runners were unplaced in their events.
An interesting mix of Moruya nominations are in for Bombala on Saturday, with the main focus being Nowra’s Mollymook Cup meeting on Sunday, full of strong Moruya nominations across the eight-event card.
Both Chris Hensler’s Jayko and Joe Ible’s Rush To Judgement will step out in the feature Benchmark 60 (1400m) event at Kembla Grange today, and don’t forget that racing returns to our home track at Moruya on Melbourne Cup day.
Until next week, good luck and good punting.