February 17, 2017
On Friday, February 10 Hannah English booted home Sequoia Miss for the James Curtain stable at Rockhampton. And the next day she chalked up a treble at Miles.
Her winners were the Patrick Sexton duo Ibelieveicanfly and Psycho Said So and Klammer, the Snitzel gelding that scored his third straight victory for English’s master Glenn Richardson.
Sequoia Miss (8/1) deservedly shed her maiden tag.
The Ferocity mare, which is raced by Curtain’s wife Kate, had run up six seconds and a third placing from her 14 previous essays.
Sequalo’s grand-daughter, having prevailed by the narrowest of margins, steps up sharply to be a Clifford Park Class 1 engagement for Skye Bogenhuber on Saturday evening.
Meanwhile English’s full book at Eidsvold on Saturday includes four from Patrick Sexton’s Oakey yard and Blazon Tales for Wondai’s Neville “Shorty” O’Toole.
Then on Sunday, Hannah heads to Caloundra to partner Lindsay Anderson’s trooper Glenthorn Avenue.
The Eidsvold meeting and those at the Gold Coast, Bluff, Innisfail and Warwick are beneficiaries of Racing Queensland’s new trial whereby races with just five final acceptors are not scrapped.
The move is logical in that there are prize money reasons for Queensland owners to shift their targets interstate.
Cancelled opportunities are very frustrating for those that pay the bills, particularly when it comes to open handicaps.
Under the old policy, the Innisfail fixture would have ended up with just three contests and probably faced abandonment.
* * *
Country Comebacks
Lyall Appo returns to his first stamping ground this weekend.
The veteran, who loves to get back to Eidsvold, has not weighed out since finishing tenth on the Jemimah Forde trained I Got Trix at Chinchilla on December 16.
His most recent success was on that horse’s stablemate Benevolent Lad at Gympie on November 26.
If you are going to Eidsvold, the best bet of the day is that Lyall will attempt to extract a Melbourne Cup ovation should he salute on Buck The System, Minto’s Lass or Shockwave.
Hannah Phillips will also seek a few minutes in the winner’s slot at Warwick on Saturday.
Since her return to the race-riding saddle there on January 28, her six mounts after an eight month break have impressively delivered two second placings at Gladstone and third money at Bundaberg.
She picks up the traces again with trainer Bradley Hudson with his charge Coalbank Caviar on the day that the Black Caviar Lightning is decided at Flemington.
Phillips then journeys to Toowoomba to pilot Sariaya for her father Barry.
* * *
High And Low For Corey
Sunshine Coast junior Corey Bayliss triumphed with a home track treble last Sunday.
He bounced back after copping time on the sidelines at a stewards hearing the previous day.
Both Bayliss and fellow apprentice Jed Hodge were accused of failing to give their respective mounts Waltz In Flight and She Goes Pop every opportunity to win or to obtain the best possible place at the Gold Coast on February 4.
In short, they were pinched for going too fast.
Hodge pleaded guilty and was suspended for one month from February 11 to March 11.
Bayliss, who was found guilty, was suspended for one month from February 17 to March 17.
She Goes Pop (Hodge) ran third, beaten three-quarters of a length while fifth placed Waltz in Flight (Bayliss) went down by two and a half lengths.
Bayliss really had the momentum up.
Since mid January, the ultra busy lad has landed a Ballina treble, wins at Townsville and the Gold Coast and placings at Rockhampton, Mackay, Ipswich and Murwillumbah.
Last Wednesday, Hugh Bowman was found guilty of failing to ride out Realise Potential at Randwick.
He escaped with a dead-heat for second, a $1,000 fine and a stretch that will start after his Sunday commitments at Hong Kong.
“The suspension is to commence on Monday, February 20 and to expire on Saturday, 25 February 2017, on which day he may ride.”
Fortuitously, it all slots in nicely. And despite his not-guilty plea, he won’t miss the seat on Winx at her next outing.
The time-off comes after Bowman was fined when he scrambled in under similar circumstances on Olympic Academy at Randwick on January 21.
Press items suggest that for this second recent infringement of the rule, stewards apparently noted his five offences in 12 months in considering the penalty, but gave him some relief for cooperating with the inquiry.
The official statement is: “In assessing penalty, stewards took into consideration that Realise Potential had dead-heated for second and the effect on wagering was not as significant had he lost that placing outright.”
Now, how about swapping some names here. Let’s put Bayliss or Hodge in the Randwick situation and Bowman at the Gold Coast. Would the same or like penalties have been dished out?
* * *
A Week To Nanango’s 2017 Opener
There is a hectic line-up ahead in the south-east corner with Doomben, Ipswich and Caloundra hosting non-Saturday cards while the Gold Coast, Toowoomba and the Sunshine Coast are provincial TAB offerings next weekend.
Nanango Race Club is fortunate geographically in that the competing non-TAB programs on Saturday, February 25 are at Roma (on the sand) and Goondiwindi.
Interest in racing will spike on that date with Winx scheduled to sport silk in the $600,000 Chipping Norton Stakes in Sydney, and Melbourne serving up an appetising menu courtesy of the $1.5 million Blue Diamond Stakes, the $500,000 Oakleigh Plate and the $500,000 Futurity Stakes.
Although Lee Park racegoers will Think Pink when they dress, the prospect of enjoying a purple patch in the betting ring will be in their thoughts.
Nominations for the program close on Tuesday morning.
