April 8, 2019
South Burnett primary producers aren’t the only ones bring in a harvest at this time of the year – local racing industry players have been enjoying a bright and productive time of late, too.
Hannah Phillips, with a recent double in the locker, repeated the dose at Gympie on Saturday.
Firstly she booted home Mister Ward (trainer Matt Boland, $3.20) and Turbo Teddy (Steven Thomas, $17) at Warwick’s provincial meeting on April 2.
Windquest (Malcolm Bailey, $6.50) and Targets (Kym Afford, $4.40) were her partners at the Southside course four days later.
Dame Fortune has taken a liking to Afford.
Prior to Gossiaux’s breakthrough at Bundaberg on March 16, the ex-South Australian had unsaddled ten hopefuls that had finished as second, third or fourth placegetters.
Kym and his wife Sonia have show jumpers and thoroughbreds at their Kilkivan base.
Their versatile, mobile operation embraces farrier work, horse-breaking and equine dental attention.
Meanwhile, Hannah English provided the first three of the four successes that John Manzelmann clinched at Bowen on Saturday.
Exoterical ($6) and Ginger Snap ($4) scored narrowly, but the maiden aspirant Favour Of God ($2.40) bolted in by six lengths.
The duo made up for a disappointing return, apart from a close second on Sweet Surprise ($10), at Mackay the previous day.
Glenn Richardson’s wonderful sequence with Bel Seleva (Gary Geran, $1.70) continued in comfortable style at Gympie.
The Bel Esprit mare, with only eight engagements since joining the Nanango stable last October, has saluted at each of her six most recent appearances.
The sprinter’s first two victories were for Hannah English (Gympie, November 24, $17; Bundaberg, December 8, $2.40).
Then she prevailed for Jason Missen (Bundaberg, February 2, $3.20) and Dale Evans (Gladstone, February 9, $2.50). Gary Geran was aboard the $1.80 chance for the second of her Gympie wins on March 9.
Also on Saturday, Stella’s Dream (Kenji Yoshida, $4) picked up fourth money for the Richardson team at Goondiwindi.
Another local doing well is Nanango trainer Jason Livingstone with Mountebank.
Having just its second day at the races in four months, the $71 shot was unplaced on debut for the yard at Caloundra on March 10.
But at Gympie on Saturday, the very lightly raced six-year-old – with Montanna Savva as pilot – picked up the minor money in the feature $10,000 100 Club BM 55 (1470m).
The Lonhro gelding shed its maiden tag at Newcastle at its 13th and final run for Paul Perry in May 2016.
Soon after, Mountebank was unplaced in the New England area for trainer Mark Mason.
More than two years later he came back to finish second last at Armidale at his only attempt for a new mentor in Cody Morgan in November 2018.
Given the lay offs over time, Mountebank seemingly showed improvement on the sand.
The record shows that Lindsay Anderson’s Clouds wound up in tenth berth in the $75,000 BM 75 Handicap at Toowoomba on Saturday.
The 100/1 pop’s performance was commendable, with the losing margin being less than three lengths in a hectic battle in which the first seven home were covered by less than a length.
Previously the grey was a tidy third on a heavy Sunshine Coast surface in mid-March.
Finally, former local jockey Jason Hoopert has also found the winner’s circle twice since settling in the state’s north west.
He has been on top at Cloncurry with Flossy and Mount Isa with Zumari.
Calendar Reminders: Mark up Nanango (Easter Saturday and then May 25 for Battle Of The Bush Day), Wondai (Anzac Day) and Burrandowan (May 11).
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Fanfare For Queensland
Santa Ana Lane’s demolition job on the rich T.J. Smith Stakes field at Randwick on Saturday is cause for Queensland’s authorities to blow the trumpet about their carnivals.
The Lope de Vega (IRE) gelding had time in the north in the winter of 2016.
In 2018 he took out the Stradbroke with Champagne Cuddles holding on to third place.
The Not A Single Doubt mare, at 100/1, finished a mighty fourth in Saturday’s Sydney sprint.
That was one spot behind Sunlight, the 2018 Magic Millions heroine.
Incidentally, there would have been support for the Doncaster winner Brutal at Gympie.
Glen Boss, the victorious hoop, cut his teeth there, enjoying the pony club experience as a nipper before he linked up with trainer Terry Chinner at the age of 15.
Glen was on the back of quarter-horses and then thoroughbreds.
The opportunity to relocate to the Gold Coast to be indentured to Kaye Tinsley a couple of years later was a welcome one.
The world was to become Boss’s oyster.
