October 16, 2015
Sarah Eilbeck, the English lass who saluted in the Wondai Cup twelve months ago on Aashiq, was named Rookie Apprentice of the Year at Racing Queensland’s Thoroughbred Awards ceremony at Doomben on Monday.
The Sunshine Coast rider’s only other associations with the General Nediym gelding produced a victory in the Surat Cup and a narrow Roma Cup defeat.
Eilbeck’s day at Wondai kick-started a year long harvest of 63-60-56 from 428 attempts.
Her recent focus has been on the Caloundra and Bundall meetings.
Last weekend’s haul included a Gold Coast treble and a win at the Sunshine Coast.
Eleven winners have come from her most recent 50 times in race day silk.
Meanwhile Jimmy Orman, the Gatton lad whose first career success was at Nanango, also continues to fire after progressing to city standard.
His form line since 1 August reads out at 236:43-25-19 with a praiseworthy Doomben record of 83:14-6-10.
Eilbeck and Orman are testimony to the value of initial bush experiences, dedication and talent.
Emma Ljung, the Downs junior who took out the title of Best Provincial Apprentice with 55 victories in that category for the 2014-2015 season, is also demonstrating the need for country racing.
She has more engagements at Saturday’s non-TAB Stanthorpe program than during the ensuing twilight time at Toowoomba.
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Some Tips For The Wondai Cup Meeting
The feature race at Wondai on Saturday will be Race 4, the Roy and Glenis Radunz Wondai Cup.
This is a BM65 handicap event over 1465 metres, and with $12,000 in prize monies on offer it always draws a strong field of contenders.
This year is no different.
Kingaroy’s Tom Moloney has every reason to be hopeful that his lightly raced mare Famechon Baroness can deliver the trophy in this feature race renewal.
The daughter of Haradasun is undefeated around Wondai and also boasts a win there over the 1465 metre trip.
Apprentice Hannah Phillips knows her way around the sand course and will have a horse under her that is capable of finishing strongly over the final stages of the uphill run to the wire.
The six-year-old scored in heavy going at Dalby last month in Benchmark 60 company and hold be cherry-ripe for her weekend task.
The in-form Canid, a Wondai placegetter, will be handled by Hannah English.
The country Cups Queen, fresh from a double at Gayndah last Saturday, would love to give her boss Glenn Richardson an item for the trophy cabinet.
A major obstacle will be Fasta Than Light.
The Hidden Dragon five-year-old from Pat Duff’s Deagon yard has two recent successes over 1470 metres at Gympie to its credit.
Of course, the top weight I’m No Ruby is in great form.
However, no jockey had been posted by the deadline so it may be in the doubtful starter category.
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Another strong race that should draw a lot of interest on Saturday is Race 3, the Ryan’s 100 Years of Butchering in the Wondai & South Burnett QTIS BM 55 Handicap (1100m).
Locally trained Western Maizcay, a runner-up in Aashiq’s Cup, will be striving to go one better in this race.
The Tony Williams prepared candidate has never finished further back than fourth on his home circuit.
Its last outing yielded a second placing over the same distance at South Burnett Race Club July fixture.
The other Wondai based contender in this event is Nug’s Pocket, a Sequalo gelding part-owned and trained by Kristen Wenck.
The chestnut, nosed out at Gympie late last month, will have its admirers.
Omen punters seeking a cattle-themed runner in this contest will no doubt lasso Outback Wrangler.
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South Burnett jockeys should be well in the mix during the day.
English will also pilot the well credentialled Miss Mega Hertz and Delightful Dancer for Patrick Sexton, Ede Fuse for Richardson and Miss Alexandra for Nanango’s Wayne Farrington.
Phillips will also have the reins on Somerset Dawn, Covert Charmour, Tropical Heatwave and I Am McLovin.
Jason Missen returns from injury to partner Estevez, Sir Stephen and the sterling Hivesville galloper Glenthorn Avenue.
Lindsay Anderson’s Bel Esprit gelding is proven at the track, is a perennial trier and has won from 1000 to 1850 metres.
The Wondai hoop will also link up with Anderson’s other charge in the shape of Hopetoun Street.
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The All-Queensland Caulfield Cup
It is fifty years since the Sunshine State could say that a Caulfield Cup winner was owned, trained and ridden by permanent Queenslanders.
In 1989 Cole Diesel, a $13,000 purchase, took out the Heath’s most important competition.
The grey that had collected the Toorak Handicap the week before was trained at the Gold Coast by Greg Mance, a Victorian who had a very successful stint in Queensland.
In a laughable decision, the Moonee Valley Race Club did not consider his dual Group One winner worthy of a place in their 1989 Cox Plate line up.
The 1965 Caulfield Cup went to Bore Head, an outstanding stayer that was educated by Ron Dillon in Brisbane.
The jockey was Fred Clarke and the horse was purchased by Bill Chaplain, a grazier from north of Cloncurry who wanted to buy a colt by Delville Wood from Mauna Kea, Delta’s half sister.
But the rains did not come and he couldn’t afford to spend money on a thoroughbred during a drought.
A year later he was able to get a Mauna Kea yearling sired by Double Bore for 1,200 guineas.
Although Bill gifted the bay to his children Carmel and Bob, he was still active in the galloper’s career.
Amongst the gelding’s feature prizes were the 1963 Queensland Cup, a dead heat with Isaacson in the 1964 Ipswich Cup and 1967 triumphs in the Doomben and Australian Cups.
Bore Head crashed in a pile up in the 1965 Melbourne Cup.
Clarke maintained for the rest of his life that he was travelling like a winner.
Ziema, the runner-up in the Caulfield Cup, was edged out by his stablemate Light Fingers in that big one at Flemington.
That outcome led to the late Bart Cummings making the first of his twelve visits to the Melbourne Cup winner’s circle.
