May 29, 2015
The Nanango Race Club’s honours for the season will be finalised at this weekend’s meeting.
With the following fixture scheduled for August 1 (the first day of the 2015-16 racing year), the upcoming program is a final roll of the dice for several aspirants.
Local sprinter Captain Clayton is assured of The Horse Of The Year title.
The Danbird gelding, owned and prepared by Nanango’s Barry Phillips, has picked up two victories and a runner-up cheque with the present leader in the Jockeys’ division, Hannah Phillips, aboard each time.
The Phillips’ string, with its 2-1-0 tally, currently sits second on the Trainers’ ladder behind Glenn Richardson’s 3-0-3 scoreline.
Jandowae-based Geoffrey Schrader (2-0-0) and Oakey’s Patrick Sexton (1-1-1) have outside chances of causing a boil-over.
The former is set to saddle up M’sieur Montpelier, Chilldown and Moss Tank while the latter will attend to Nothin’ Zappenin’, Flinders Luck, Red Warning and Winner Wimmer.
Richardson will be without Canid, his game galloper that registered a 2-0-1 season return at Le Park.
The Nanango mentor has to pin his hopes on Shekira (Tiffani Brooker) and Miss You Johnny (Pietro Romeo).
Females hold the top four spots on the Jockeys’ table with Phillips (3-1-2) breathing a little easier because her nearest challengers, namely Melody O’Brien (3-0-0) and Jodi Worley (2-2-0), won’t be in the South Burnett on Saturday.
However Gympie’s Billie-Rose Derbyshire (2-1-1) and Pietro Romeo (2-1-0) will be.
Phillips has an opportunity to add to her score in each of the five events, Derbyshire has four while there will be no love for Romeo because he will need to pick up one or two late engagements to have any prospect of pegging back the girls.
Hannah Phillips should be full-on in confidence following her treble with Amber Ale, Telephoto and Jeptoo at Thangool last Saturday and recent wins at Burrandowan (Dr House), Wondai (Fomalstar) and Nanango (Captain Clayton).
Her 19 outings on home ground at Lee Park over the past 12 months have harvested five wins, two seconds and two thirds.
The dream result for the Phillips’ father and daughter side would be a victory by Captain Clayton in the penultimate race, the K & D Plant Hire BM 65 (1200m).
The duo will also go into the field with Alemana and Decillion while Hannah’s book includes entries for Flinders Luck and Jason Judge’s Jai’s Luck.
For now, the locals occupy the vanguard positions in the two incomplete premiership races.
The depth of the competition at Nanango is not experienced in some other rural jurisdictions where one or two yards dominate.
Given the numerous form lines punters have to consider, it is little wonder that winners are not easy to find.
Hopefully they do come the way of all the visitors in town for the St Mary’s Anniversaries’ celebrations.
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Payne’s Purposeful Plan
Wondai apprentice Rhiannon Payne is to relocate to Brisbane. She will do track work at Doomben but also slip back up to the Burnett each week to handle horses for her Kumbia master James Curtain.
The fact that Payne’s car has been known to cover 15,000km in a month for race-riding and track work is testimony to her industrious attitude.
Whilst there have been some plane trips in her logbook, she has certainly done the hard yards and is looking to create links in the capital that can increase her provincial riding in the south-east corner.
This season, with two full months to run, Rhiannon has sported silk 356 times at 34 different tracks for a 33-28-34 return for a better than one-in-four podium placing strike rate.
Her 22 for 4-4-2 tally for Graeme Postle’s Dalby string has been the most prominent connection among the 129 different trainers that have hired her.
On Saturday she rides her old favourite Writtenintherain for the stable at Toowoomba.
Since May 1, Payne has appeared at Rockhampton (122: 14-9-9 ) five times, Mackay (3), Mitchell, Gatton and Beaudesert.
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Satisfying Set Up For Stayers
Although several Queensland long-distance events have been reduced in metreage over the years, handy openings to try thoroughbreds over ground have been offered to the lower classes with the Racing Queensland’s Winter Provincial Stayers Series.
Points accrued from $20,000 heats at the Sunshine Coast (April 26, BM 75, 1800m and May 29, BM 75, 2200m), Gold Coast (May 9, BM 75, 1800m), Gatton (May 21, BM 75, 2000m) and Rockhampton (May 22, BM 70, 1800m) decide the qualifiers for the $100,000 BM 80 final over 2150 metres on Ipswich Cup Day (June 13).
Last Sunday’s $10,000 Cancer Council Queensland Hibernian Cup (BM 60, 2450m) at Beaudesert also supported staying interests.
Remarkably, the outcome meant that the Tobougg gelding Back to Abilene and his rider Brooke Ainsworth were a length short of a hat-trick in the event.
The duo scored in 2013, ran second to Adenarius in 2014 and bolted away with this year’s renewal.
The grandson of Scenic, prepared locally by his part owner Robert Lyford, had four Victorian assignments last spring.
At Bendigo, the chestnut was beaten a lip at over 2400m in BM 64 grade before finishing fourth there in the same class and distance.
He was only four-and-a-half lengths adrift of the Who Shot Thebarman when sixth in the Bart Cummings (100/1, 2520m, Gr 3) at Flemington, and then backed up on the first Tuesday in November when seventh of 19 in the Visit Victoria Plate (60/1, BM 96, 2800m).
Joao Moreira, his superstar international hoop, was better for that experience because he was able to pick up fourth money on Signoff later in the day in the Melbourne Cup.
Back to Abilene may not have turned acorns into oaks, but the seven-year-old has benefitted by the odd staying task at a non-TAB fixture.
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Lightning Went Close To Striking Twice
Following their disappointing photo-finish loss at Burrandowan, the connections of Tropical Heatwave sweated over another camera issue last weekend.
The following extract from the Thangool Stewards’ Report conveys the dilemma:
“As the photo finish system was unable to capture a print, all placing were reviewed by the judges and stewards prior to the declaration of correct weight. After Race 1, owner K Cawthray (Costa Little) viewed the patrol film for third. After doing so, stewards and judges confirmed the placings as semaphored. After Race 5, trainer M Reardon questioned the placing of Tropical Heatwave as third. After viewing the vision, Mr Reardon was satisfied with the judges’ placing.”
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Adroit And Adept
One of the joys of watching racing live is that the amazing skills of jockeys can be observed in the flesh.
If you are heading to the Nanango track for the St Marys’ Anniversary Race Day, do spend some time down on the rail.
Keep your eyes on the riders as they engage in a push and drive, nip and tuck battle to the line.
Blake Shinn’s handy work in the pigskin at Doomben last Saturday made for an incredible set of split second photos as he sent Bohemian Lily to the post in the Roses.
The Sydney hoop, (pictured), has an incredibly tenuous but effective grip on the whip.
Just try copying his finger and thumb placements and imagine that, at the same time, you are keeping the horse straight, maintaining balance and momentum and still matching the steed’s rhythm.
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The Nanango racecourse is the place to be on Saturday. It will be a very special social occasion and there are plenty of reasons to cheer for the local participants – See you there!
