May 23, 2014
By Ross Stanley
Nanango trainer Glenn Richardson struck pay dirt when he tried Golden Cash on non-turf tracks.
The Dash for Cash gelding’s previous hosts – Maryann Thexton, Gerald Ryan and Matthew Dunn – collectively garnered five victories with the chestnut before he became a South Burnett resident.
After his Toowoomba minor placing, Golden Cash has saluted three times in succession at Gympie, Wondai and Bundaberg.
Tomorrow apprentice Tiffani Brooker is looking to extend her unbeaten run to four on the seven-year-old at Roma, a surface that should fit the bill nicely.
The yard will also be presented by Latarno and Miss You Johnny, while James Curtain’s acceptors are Somerset Dawn and Amber Ale.
Norma King has engaged Bradley Appo to ride her Lion Heart mare Zionic.
Richardson will also have an involvement at Beaudesert’s Cancer Council Charity Day tomorrow with his former charge Lady Oscar, the Dubai Destination mare that is seeking the judge’s award for the best performance in the Class 2 category.
Whilst Glenn remains a part-owner of the five-year-old, he has handed the reins and polish over to his brother Lionel.
The chestnut will wear a tongue-tie as she follows up her tidy run as a 20-1 shot in much, much higher grade at Doomben recently.
Nanango apprentice Hannah Phillips will also be in action at the Hibernian meeting.
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Blackwell’s Mighty Breadwinner
Interest in an oddly named, bush-based runner in the 2002 Doomben 10,000 was so strong that Brisbane’s Courier-Mail newspaper sent journalist Bernie Pramberg and photographer David Kapernick to Hivesville to cover the tale of Peter Blackwell and his constant four-legged companion.
The resultant feature story is worth revisiting:
The horse that aroused so much interest was Machtig Mihi Panis (“mighty is my bread”), a chestnut with white socks.
Blackwell had been involved with some useful steeds during his 1975-1993 stint at Hendra, the bustling hub of Brisbane training establishments.
For example, Noble Jewel was black-type placed in the McDougall Stakes before winning the Starlet; Unbid Slam won the rich 1990 FAI (now B.J. McLachlan) Stakes; and Blackwell also had a cheap, well-chosen horse in Dark Ksar before the gelding was sold to David Hayes (for whom he collected two St Legers, an STC Ranvet Stakes and a P.J. O’Shea Stakes).
Figuratively speaking, Peter’s preference was to see steam from a billy rather than big smoke.
After using the quieter locales at Landsborough forest and Nudgee Beach, he headed to the rural tranquility of Hivesvillle, convinced his personally devised methods and the environs would work with racehorses.
On Proston Ridge, he carved out a training track and built the basic necessities.
And a baldy-faced sprinter by Biscay’s non-stakeswinning son Siscay was to prove him right.
Machtig Mihi Panis developed over time.
After winning a Toowoomba juvenile Maiden at his fifth outing, he kicked off his early three-year-old days with a close second in slow going at Caloundra before adding wins at Toowoomba and Eagle Farm at age-restricted Class 6 level.
At four, August was again a good month with back-to-back successes secured at Clifford Park and Eagle Farm.
By October 2000, Machtig Mini Panis was competitive in city Class 6 company and in the following winter Blackwell threw him at the deep end with assignments in tough winter contests.
“Machtig” was only two lengths behind the winner Pittance in the Lightning Handicap, and less than two panels behind the same dasher in the Eye Liner Stakes.
Then at Doomben in August 2001 he broke through in open company.
Roll on to 2002:
After all the labour, the well-kneaded damper was ready to come out of the camp oven.
In 11 appearances (all in city company) between January 26 and June 29, Machtig Mihi Panis really rose to the occasion.
He won the listed Bribie Handicap, collected two wins and a second in open sprints and registered a creditable close-up sixth in the Weetwood.
His strong fourth in the Wyndham Estate Cup (Gr 2) saw him go out as a $16 pop in the Doomben 10,000 in which he wound up less than three and a half panels from the triumphant Falvelon in seventh berth.
That magnificent effort was followed by an excellent third in the Group 2 QTC Cup (beaten a head) and a fourth placing in the Mercedes Benz (down by a length).
Next up, in what turned out to be his swan song, he missed out by a neck to the race specialist Pittance in the listed Eye Liner Stakes.
Blackwell was initially somewhat reluctant to go training, thinking he would probably stick to “breaking, re-educating, clipping and shoeing”.
His words to Pramberg indicated that he was able to convert a belief in his talented galloper into reality.
“When I broke him in, I told Dr Lip (the owner) he’d be a very good horse. As soon as I rode him, I knew. He had the clean wind, beautiful efficient stride and a lovely mind,” he said.
A rhetorical question comes to mind: Would any metropolitan trainer with the demands of managing a large string have generated $322,310 worth of goods with the unfashionably Machtig Mihi Panis, the gritty goer with a 12-12-7 return from the 61 tasks asked of him?
