VETERAN jockey Tim Phillips made it a memorable meeting at the Bong Bong Picnic Racing Club last Friday in Bowral.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The hoop sent the 6500-strong crowd into a frenzy with four consecutive race wins and three course records but was unable to pick up the Cup, which was taken home by a New Zealand raider Tradtri and jockey Billy Owen.
Phillips was rapt to be able to ride one winner at the long-standing meeting, let alone four.
“It was a good buzz as it’s very competitive there,” Phillips said.
“To ride one or two winners at Bong Bong is good but to punch out four was great.”
In the first Phillips rode Donna Grisedale’s Monte Lago and won by one-length in the maiden plate over 1000 metres, setting a new course record in the process.
Thirty-five minutes later Phillips set a new record over 1000 metres aboard Grisedale’s Our Penny Girl, which won the class two handicap by a quarter of a length and covered the distance in 59 seconds.
Among a four-horse field in race three, Phillips rode Sam Kavanagh’s Al Farafir and won by one-and-a-half lengths, setting a class record at the track.
“Picking up a win for a pretty big trainer like Sam was good,” Phillips said.
Phillips said by the start of race four the “buzz” had been building and his friends were adding to the vibe.
“I had a heap of mates there which got the crowd going a little bit and after the first couple everyone got behind me,” he said.
“I think half of Bong Bong was (betting) on me by the fourth.”
In the fourth Phillips rode De Licious Bobbie for Grisedale, a horse he previously won with at Fernhill in October. He nabbed his second win with Bobbie by almost one length in the 1200-metre handicap.
It was his third winner for Grisedale at the meeting.
“Donna was stoked, there’s good prize money up there too,” Phillips said.
With two meetings left in the season – Gosford on December 13 and Trangie on December 28. Phillips is in the box seat to win the picnic jockey’s premiership leading the count with 11 wins.
“It’s just getting the right horses, you’ll go through stages where you have average horses and then you’ll pick up a couple of nice ones and they’ll take you through the season,” he said.
Phillips said there were a number of fresh horses which were impressive which he had been doing trackwork with at Moruya Racecourse.
“They’re a good bunch and I’ve been riding a lot of young ones which are about to race, or not far off,” he said.