UPDATE July 1, 2022: The South Burnett Race Club have cancelled their July 1 meeting due to heavy rain overnight and the forecast of further heavy falls tomorrow. The club’s next meeting will be on Saturday, October 15.
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July 1, 2022
Saturday’s South Burnett Race Club meeting looks like it will be very well-contested, with 14 reserves across three of the five contests.
Deagon trainer Pat Duff will be hoping that Cruising Bill, a placegetter on Caloundra’s synthetic track, salutes for the family and that his emergency Boom Chugga Lugga gains a start.
The Lewis Duff Open Handicap – the second of the day’s five races – is a beauty with four Wondai winners in the line-up.
The rising 12-year-old Hard Stride (Paul Hamblin, 64.5 kg) from Jason Judge’s Toowoomba yard faces a Wondai rematch with Sherwood Prince (Alisha Donald, 55 kg).
Glenn Richardson’s charge prevailed at Roma last weekend and meets the tough topweight on 2.5 kilograms better terms than when he went down by a head to the veteran on Anzac Day.
Roma gelding Hard Enough, part-owned by her trainer-jockey Cheryl Rogers, has a 4:2-0-0 record for the course while Tom Moloney’s pacy aspirant Diggity’s formline there is an impressive 2:1-1-0.
To add to the mix, the Chinchilla galloper Dynamic Verse is adept on non-turf tracks and has been in the frame at Wondai.
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Saturday’s meeting will also have a strong local flavour.
Local trainers and their runners are as follows: Kristen Roon (Vizone), Kym Afford (Conley Bell, He Did It) and Lindsay Anderson (Kentford).
Other South Burnett-based mentors with their representatives are Glenn Richardson (La Belle La Belle, Ramtastic, Sherwood Prince, Foxy Five, Rising Spirit and Justaway), Tom Moloney (Diggity, Ultra Instinct, My Taranaki), Patrick Sexton (Hairy Lover), Royce Connolly (Dixieland) and John Hamilton (Oakfield Comanche).
An interesting changeover involves Rasheed, formerly trained at Gympie by jockey Kelly Gates.
The Pride of Dubai gelding is now in the care of Gregory Hayes and he will ride the bay in the opener.
Novice punters are reminded that Wondai, like Gympie and Bundaberg, is a sand surface.
Performances at these tracks often works out to be quite different from those on the grass.
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Big Weekend For Young Jockey
When Brisbane rookie rider Emily Lang got up last Saturday morning, she had no idea that she would flash a winner’s smile six times before afternoon tea on Sunday.
The 11 entries on the opening page of her fresh logbook makes for excellent reading.
Steven O’Dea’s apprentice finished third aboard her debut ride Special Case in the opener at Nanango.
The 21-year-old certainly belonged to a special category when she booted home Loveson two races later, and then added five from five at Warwick the following day.
She reduced her claim from four to three kilograms in blistering quick time.
But Lang’s success was no fluke.
She has a strong equestrian background and to ensure she was ultra-ready, her master O’Dea set he the task of completing around 100 trials before her first ride.
Lang had a little reality check at Warwick, though – she was reprimanded for careless riding on Poignant when she shifted in when not sufficiently clear of Red Hot Love.
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Excitement Galore At Lee Park
Last Saturday’s fixture at Nanango was certainly action packed – new chapters were penned and old ones were sustained.
The sterling victory by Glenn Richardson’s string member Rapid Eagle with his wife Hannah aboard ensured that the couple of a successful defence of their Lee Park Premiership titles for 2021-22.
Another rookie apprentice in Shania Willis, who has four Wondai engagements, chalked up a double with Ask Audrey and Flying Kass, the grey that was part of a lucrative day for Kym Afford.
In the last event, the fifth placegetter Modern Family officially earned him $6600 because he was the top horse at the conclusion of the Burnett to the Beach series.
There were also some reminders of the risks jockeys face.
Nathan Evans and Shannyn Stephan fortunately escaped unhurt when their mounts had issues in the barrier stalls, and Chris Meehan avoided being crushed when Quarter Past reared near the entry to the track.
The Irish hoop got back into the saddle and the duo went on to claim second prize.
The next meeting at Lee Park will be Nanango Cup Day on Saturday, August 6.
