June 6, 2014
by Ross Stanley
Wondai trainer Norma King has lined up a return trip to Oak Park after Flight Command’s hard-fought win for her apprentice son Joshua in the Rooms Motel Kingaroy Handicap at Nanango in May.
Oak Park is 280km west of Townsville by air.
At the historic fixture last year, the Kings recorded a profitable strike rate at this carnival, which will be offering purses ranging from $12,000 to $17,000 in 2014.
“Joshua was the leading rider last year. Flight Command won on the Friday and backed up with a solid sixth the next day,” Norma said.
“We also won with Country Wide and Airgead (second) and Willywynya (third) were also in the money.”
Norma is a dyed-in-the-wool horsewoman whose grandfathers were involved in the greyhound and harness codes.
She was formerly based at Goondiwindi with her partner Mick Hicks.
Mick is the man who put the polish on Murphy’s Blu Boy, the lightning fast Blu Tsunami juvenile that won the 2003 Blue Diamond Preview by seven lengths before going down in the Prelude as a $1.26 favourite.
Flight Command – a seven-year-old by General Nediym – shed his maiden tag at Randwick’s Kensington course in May 2009.
Since joining Norma’s team, the bay has also scored at Tara, Talwood and Hughenden and chalked up placings at Monto and Charters Towers.
So far this season Norma has had starters at more than 30 rural tracks, including Bundaberg, Calliope, Cunnamulla, Eidsvold, Esk, Springsure, Surat, Thangool, Texas, Mitchell and Moree.
Son Joshua, who has a full book of rides at Barcaldine this weekend, earned every cent of his pay on Flight Command at last month’s Lee Park outing.
He was vigorous out of the gates and had to apply pressure to the leader a long way out.
In the straight, a wall of challengers loomed up. But the pair dug deep to prevail in a tight finish that saw the first nine in covered by three lengths.
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Nanango apprentice Hannah Phillips has brought her record for her last 12 rides to a praiseworthy 4-2-0, courtesy of her double at last Saturday’s Nanango Races on the Oakey filly Jeptoo and Peter Blackwell’s Glenthorn Avenue.
Her nine engagements on her home turf have returned three wins and three placings.
However, it was not all joy last weekend, with stewards officially reprimanding her for not taking her full allowance on two of her mounts.
In both cases she weighed out at 51.5kg which was only 0.5 over the mark.
If she remains at her current weight she will be able to accept rides on the 55kg minimum because her allowance has come down from four kilograms to three.
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No doubt there will be locals heading to Brisbane on the long weekend for Stradbroke Day, the Sunshine State’s signature program.
But if you have some spare time available, a visit to the Queensland Art Gallery near the southern side of the Victoria Bridge can provide an interesting experience at the moment.
The Sam Fullbrook exhibit includes his 1974 Archibald Prize-winning portrait of jockey Norm “Whopper” Stephens, Ballyvista’s winning partner in the 1948 Stradbroke Handicap.
At the time, Norm was a rookie apprentice and able to ride the Con Doyle-trained sprinter at 7.2 (45.5kg).
It’s a tad ironic that an identity who was often described as a “colourful character” should end up in oils on canvas.
Norm was often in hot water with the stewards and delivered some brilliant one liners over the decades.
Fullbrook had horses with “Whopper’s” mate Mick Bacon at Deagon and his overtures to Stephens to sit for artwork were rebuffed until the hoop broke his leg and had spare time on his hands.
The Gallery’s caption indicates that the painting was intended to make up for the injury that Norm sustained while partnering Fullbrook’s horse Con Artist.
