July 22, 2016
After a two month, injury-induced absence, Hannah English is back in action at Gympie on Saturday.
Although a broken wrist incurred at Toowoomba on May 21 cost her a chance of securing an all-age Queensland country premiership title, the Nanango apprentice did marvellously well as a first-year rookie.
Hannah has ridden 28 country winners so far this season, and currently shares second rung on the statewide country jockeys’ ladder with Stephanie Lacy.
The pair trail the runaway pacesetter Dan Ballard (43.5) while fellow junior Adam Spinks has also done well, with 26 notches to his credit.
A neck-and-neck race for the honour of being the top 2015-16 Queensland country apprentice will ensue over the next two Saturdays prior to August 1.
At Gympie, English rides Canid and Hidden Angel for her master Glenn Richardson and Te Kula Kaha for Hivesville’s Peter Blackwell, while Spinks will be aboard Daunting Rose, Leaps And Bounds, Beaufort Gyre and Isis Spinner.
Lacy’s efforts at Lismore in New South Wales will not alter her score.
When provincial successes are included, Hannah English has averaged a winner a week for the racing year.
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The Grass Is Not Greener … Yet
The best tip for punters at the moment is that they should ignore the form emanating from Eagle Farm meetings.
Last Saturday saw the rating there downgraded from a soft 5 to heavy 9 in just over three hours with little rain.
Even a very casual observer could not miss spotting the extra large divots being tossed up as the fields approached the home turn.
Horses lose confidence when they strike variations in the nature of the galloping surface.
It is, in a way, better if the course is consistently heavy throughout so that the runners get into a consistent type of footing. If a particular patch feels suddenly different, uncertainty develops and a safer, shorter stride can become an animal’s preferred option.
Next Wednesday the rail will be positioned 9 metres out.
Some warmer and drier conditions have prevailed since the fixture there on July 6 drew 136 original nominations.
Entries (not acceptances, as yet) for this coming Wednesday were down to 102, while 149 were lodged at the same stage for the Gold Coast’s program last Wednesday.
In short, the best case scenario for the newly laid circuit is that the current problems are initial teething troubles. And the worst scenario would be that key sections are longer term design and structural issues.
Hopefully the weather gods have noted that Eagle Farm is scheduled to race on the first three Saturdays in August.
It goes without saying that both the short and long term future of the venue will impact on city, provincial and country racing.
This dilemma is elsewhere, too.
In Victoria, Sandown and Ballarat have concerns while Randwick’s Kensington course is to be utterly overhauled.
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Bits And Bridles
- An unwanted record was set or equalled last Saturday when all four Queensland non-TAB meetings were lost. Bundaberg Race Club’s Lightning and Gold Cup will be added to its September 3 card and Julia Creek’s Cup is now up for grabs at its July 30 race day. Other casualties were Blackall and Clermont. Meanwhile, Dalby’s non-TAB meeting for Saturday, August 6 has been switched to Warwick to allow for maintenance work on the Bunya Park track.
- The ongoing saga surrounding the use of the whip is up for general feedback at an official level, with Racing Australia inviting input from the rank and file and the general public. Submissions can be lodged by email until Friday, August 5.
- Transient Victorian apprentice Rebecca Williams has a fascinating logbook at present. She rode at Rockhampton on Thursday July 14. Two days later she had a sole engagement at the Gold Coast before heading to Toowoomba where she scored on Rocklord. Last Sunday, she picked up a second placing with Chasing Liberty at Wodonga on the Murray River before venturing to Dalby on Tuesday and Moree on Thursday. This weekend she plies her trade at Doomben and Caloundra.
- Although they were a few lengths off collecting prize money, jockey Jason Missen and an Oakey trainer trekked to the Moree meeting with the recent Eisdvold and Taroom placegetter Hashtag Yolo. Sorties to New South Wales country TAB programs will be on the rise, given that the new standard $20,000 purse per race matches Brisbane city mid-week offerings. An added incentive is the NSW $200 Starter Subsidy. Provincial prize money in that state has gone up $5,000 to a minimum $27,000 per contest.
- Lee Park’s August 13 program that features the $10,000 Fitzroy Hotel Nanango Cup will also include the presentation of trophies for the 2015-16 season. The Nanango Race Club’s Horse Of The Year is Turbo Teddy, the Thunder King gelding from Steven Thomas’s Hendon stables. The Barry Green sponsored awards for leading jockey and trainer have been won by apprentice Jed Hodge and Glenn Richardson respectively. The Moffatdale Ridge Cup Day fashion theme is Classic Black and White.
Nanango appears to have a geographical edge when it comes to attracting horses to the meeting. The only rival non-TAB venues in action will be at Charleville, Muttaburra, Yeppoon and Richmond.
