(Photo: Ross Stanley)
May 1, 2015
The South Burnett was linked to four of the success stories at last Saturday’s excellent Anzac Day race meeting at Wondai.
Firstly, in the Smithfield Feedlot Class 1 (850m), the James Curtain trained I Am Mclovin bounced back to make it two wins from four outings.
His breakthrough on debut at Kumbia in March had been followed by disappointments at Roma and Gooondiwindi.
Because of his inclination to switch off and loaf in transit, the Murtajill gelding is a conditioner’s challenge.
The son of the Magic Albert mare Magic Kisses has shown ability but niggling injuries were frustrating impediments.
But on Saturday, Toowoomba apprentice Manabu Kai fired the three-year-old up from the outside gate to claim the early lead and then ensured that the bay sustained his concentration and carried on with the job.
The sprinter pinned his ears back in the drive up the stretch to score from Wonderful Tess (Hannah Phillips) and Kristen Wenck’s charge Nug’s Pocket (Jason Missen), the Sequalo chestnut that stewards reported had knuckled on jumping, raced with its head in the air in the middle stages and resented the sand kick-back.
Curtain’s Kumbia yard also picked up the Thangool Open Handicap (1200m) with Amber Ale a fortnight ago.
The handy Sequalo gelding comes back to 1000m at Clifford Park’s Weetwood-Cup program on Saturday.
The barrier draw there has been spectacularly unkind.
Lisa Fashionista, his Nanango rival, has fared better in that aspect of the BM 75 Handicap.
Curtain’s stable has entered The Equine Bolt for the J.J. Atkins Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m, 6 June).
The unraced juvenile is by Any Given Saturday, the American Group 1 winner with five black-type credits over 1700-1800m trips.
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The Datawave Class B Handicap (110m) provided Wondai jockey Jason Missen with his first winner since his barrier accident at Thangool on 24 January.
His assignment on Blackmore Vale was his fifth essay after being sidelined with a fractured ankle.
The Shaft gelding was prepared by Oakey hobby trainer Dale Murray.
Dale’s grandfather Jack Murray, an affable octogenarian with an unquenchable thirst for finding winners, has been a trainer, owner, administrator and breeder.
His mare Jamaica Princess is mentioned in the Miller’s Guide Most Wins for a Season category.
Her tally of 17 ranks second to North West Queensland’s Top Ace’s total of 22.
Jack stood Innisfree at his Jamaica Park set-up near Eidsvold in the mid 1970s.
He formed the opinion that the Rego Lad stallion seemed to be injury-free after a stint in the serving barn and so suggested he be given another crack at the track.
The upshot was that Innisfree, the 1977 Delaney Quality winner before his initial retirement, saluted in the 1978 Stradbroke Handicap.
Jack is currently the Patron of the Eidsvold Race Club.Dale’s mother Lori is the Secretary and his father Lyle is the President of the club and also of the South-East Queensland Country Racing Association.
Jack’s son Bob will saddle up Honour Jacko at Bundaberg on Saturday.
Dale Murray, 29, went straight from school to work at the McAlpine family’s Eureka Stud on the Downs.
He was there when Temple Spirit foaled the half-brothers Temple of Boom and Spirit of Boom.
The art of handling horses that was developed during his long term at the stud is a valuable component of his present role as the principal of North Queensland Horse Transport, a floating business that treks up and down the Bruce Highway as far as the Atherton Tableland and even as far west as Mount Isa.
Eidsvold Race Club’s washed out February meeting will now be decided on June 13.
The Murray clan is sure to have some candidates.
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The effort of Tom Moloney in tuning up Famechon Baroness for the Hotel Cecil Maiden (1100m) was very praiseworthy.
The lightly raced Haradasun mare had not raced since the August 27, 2014 so it was no pushover for the horseman based at Chahpingah near Kingaroy to get her ready for a demanding exercise.
Moloney, who has spent a lifetime with horses and cattle, selected a suitable task for the five-year-old.
The four times placed five-year-old had run a tidy fifth in Canid’s Nanango Maiden on August 2 and her subsequent pair of failures were in stronger provincial company.
With Alannah Badger aboard, Famechon Baroness displayed tenacity as she finished over the top of It Wasn’t Me,
The Legal Opinion gelding that was a clear leader on points until the final few blows.
Famechon Baroness, a well-named daughter of The Baroness, is raced by Moloney’s fellow Chahpingah-ites Bob and Dorothy Black.
In 1970, the Australian boxer successfully defended his world featherweight Fighting Harada in Japan.
The Baroness’s dam was Verdict Declared, winner of the 2000 Millie Fox Stakes, an event her daughter A Country Girl took out in 2007.
Famechon Baroness is on target to step out at Burrandowan on Saturday week.
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Nanango apprentice Hannah Phillips combined superbly with the Daryll Gardiner trained Fomalstar to be in or near lead all the way in the Wondai RSL Diggers Cup (BM 55, 1465m).
The duo came out of the outside gate in the field of 10 and toiled hard to be in front but wide at the post after the uphill climb on the first lap.
The gelding by Formalhaut, a stallion named after an ultra-bright star, showed impressive determination and stamina in the long, final rise to the mirror.
The five-year-old had more than two lengths to spare at the wire.
Given that it was the Bundaberg galloper’s third start after a four-month break, the performance was the stoutest on the card.
Wondai’s next program is set down for July 11.
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This Weekend:
Best wishes to the South-Burnett players in action (weather permitting) at the following centres this weekend: Toowoomba (James Curtain, Barry Phillips); Chinchilla (Glenn Richardson, Kaylene Hamilton, Kristen Wenck, Rhiannon Payne, Hannah Phillips); Mitchell (Norma and Joshua King) and Bundaberg (Jason Missen).
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Coming Up:
The non-TAB calendar with the Winter Carnival match-up shown in brackets
- May 9: Burrandowan’s annual meeting (Doomben Cup Day)
- May 16: Esk Jockey Club stages its first meeting for the year (Caloundra Cup Day)
- May 30: Nanango: Moffatdale Ridge Wines ‘Spot’ Fashion Theme is Vivid Velvet and Vintage (Queensland Oaks Day)
