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June 2, 2014
Nanango Race Club wrapped up the 2013-14 season on Saturday with their Autumn Race Meeting, the region’s traditional curtain-closer for the racing fraternity.
There was a brief burst of alarm at the start of Race 3 when jockey Ian Coombes took a tumble from his mount Bobo (see below).
Up-and-coming Nanango apprentice jockey Hannah Phillips had a good day, with wins in Races 1 and 5 and a second in Race 3.
Cecily Eaton also did well with a second and three thirds.
The major race of the day was Race 4’s Nanango RSL / Garry and Margaret Banks Memorial Open Handicap over 1200 metres, won by Gentle Giant.
Owner and trainer Shane Barling received the trophy from relatives of the Banks’ family for winning the event.
In the past few years the Autumn meeting has run in conjunction with the annual Big Screen Film Festival, and the presence of major Australian actors has proved a big drawcard.
But this year the Festival’s date didn’t coincide with Big Screen’s schedule, so punters had to forgo the usual glitz and glamour – something both the race club and the South Burnett Regional Council hope to remedy in 2015.
The meeting had a “Moody Blues and Moleskins” theme and the field of entrants showed their style in the Moffatdale Ridge Fashions Of the Field competition.
Amongst the ladies, Sarah Reddan took top honours in the women’s section for her striking electric blue ensemble; Nanango’s Jae Clarke won accolades in moleskins as the best-dressed man on course; and brother and sister James and Emma Uebergang – who’d spent their first hour trackside getting the faces painted – made a clean sweep of the junior section.
Nanango Race Club’s next scheduled event will be its Nanango Cup Race Meeting on August 2, always one of the biggest meetings on the region’s racing calendar.
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Jockey Injured In Fall
Racegoers at Saturday’s Nanango Races were stunned at the start of Race 3 after Gympie-based jockey Ian Coombes was thrown from his horse and lay motionless on the track for several minutes.
Coombes, 43, was thrown by his mount Bobo shortly after leaving the mounting yard.
He appeared to hold onto the reins as he fell in an attempt to stop the horse bolting but in the process Bobo trod on his arm and leg before breaking free and running riderless around the track.
Coombes was immediately attended to by ambulance officers and track officials and taken by ambulance to Kingaroy Hospital.
The race was delayed for almost 30 minutes and Bobo was scratched.
Coombes had enjoyed a second placing in Race 2 immediately prior to the spill. In Race 4, another horse he’d been booked to ride – Gentle Giant – was placed first.
The jockey, who did his apprenticeship in Nanango, is expected to make a full recovery.
Coombes last had a major spill at the Esk Races on July 12 last year when he was dislodged from his mount Tipsy Tycoon at the 200m mark after the saddle rolled.
In that incident, he was transported to Ipswich Hospital for observation and later released with minor injuries.
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RESULTS
Race 1 – Maidenwell Hotel Maiden Plate (800m)
1. Jeptoo (8) – Hannah Phillips
2. Sequelene (6) – Alannah Fancourt
3. Wonderful Tess (12) – Rhiannon Payne
Time: 0:45.90
Margins: 1 1/4 lengths x 3/4 length
Race 2 – Room Motels Kingaroy Rating 65 Handicap (1000m)
1. Flight Command (1) – Joshua King
2. Deseert Playboy (9) – Ian Coombes
3. Sequalo Gold (3) – Cecily Eaton
Time: 0:58.52
Margins: Long neck x short half head
Race 3 – Ken Mills Toyota Maiden Handicap (1200m)
1. Imilche (2) – Graeme Postle
2. Famechon Baroness (9) – Hannah Phillips
3. Lady Horsepower (12) – Cecily Eaton
Time: 1:11.82
Margins: Length x 3/4 length
Race 4 – Nanango RSL / Garry And Margaret Banks Memorial Open Handicap (1200m)
1. Gentle Giant (6) – Jason Missen
2. Richmond Grove (3) – Cecily Eaton
3. Dwan (4) – Alannah Fancourt
Time: 1:09.90
Margins: Short half head x 2 lengths
Race 5 – Nanango Veterinary Surgery Benchmark 60 Handicap (1600m)
1. Glenthorn Avenue (2) – Hannah Phillips
2. Le Max (1) – Chris Kearney
3. Seagard (5) – Cecily Eaton
Time: 1:36.70
Margins: 1 1/4 lengths x 3/4 length
