August 31, 2022
Nanango trainer Glenn Richardson had a welcome change of luck on Saturday when Infinite Joy, narrowly beaten on the heavy track at Lee Park on Cup day, prevailed for Emily Lang at Kilcoy.
After setting the pace, the Fighting Sun mare hung on to score by a nose.
Her seven outings for Nanango’s leading stable have also earned two runner-up cheques.
Meanwhile, Rising Spirit, handled by Alisha Donald, won by the same margin at Warra.
The Spirit of Boom mare, after four runs for Chris Munce and one for Michael Costa, first stepped out for Richardson’s team in late May.
The game bay’s form line since leaving Brisbane stands at 7:2-1-3.
Glenn had experienced a frustrating set with three seconds on home turf on August 6.
Aided by his jockey wife Hannah, Sherwood Prince broke through at Gladstone a week later.
Two more placings were registered at Gympie on the following Saturday.
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Alisha Donald can bid a very fond farewell to August courtesy of a Roma treble, a double and a single win at Mackay, and victories at Gladstone and Warra.
These wins mean the widely travelled apprentice has saluted on eight occasions already this season.
She is currently a close fifth on the state wide country premiership table and sits eighth to James Orman on the “all venues” chart that covers every metropolitan, provincial and rural racetrack.
In other pleasing news for the South Burnett, Hannah Richardson booted home A Good Chance for Neville and Denise O’Toole at Ipswich on August 12.
Wondai trainer Kristen Roon has done a marvellous job to secure a very tidy placing on the Sunshine Coast’s synthetic on August 21 with Kakatiya.
The $41 shot’s previous engagement yielded the minor money at Mount Perry back in November 2021.
Kristen races the Monaco Consul mare in partnership with her husband Bodie and her parents Jeff and Narelle Wenck.
The very sparingly raced six-year-old shed her maiden tag at Nanango a year ago.
There could well be a nice event for her at the same venue on September 10.
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Sunshine State’s Form Franked
It is a time honoured custom for some punters to monitor the form of gallopers that have raced or spelled during the Queensland’s winter period.
The beneficial climate and some residual fitness can give these candidates edge at this time of the year.
These form followers were rewarded when Snapdancer was too good for her rivals in last Saturday’s $1m Memsie Stakes at Caulfield.
The Choisir mare, astutely managed by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, has made three northern sorties for an accumulation of around $800,000.
Galileo’s grand-daughter finished second in the Tatt’s Tiara in Brisbane in June.
Earlier, her two Gold Coast appearances in the Magic Millions contest for fillies and mares resulted in a success this year and a third place in 2021.
The Eagle Farm partnership of Steven O’Dea and Matthew Hoysted also struck pay dirt at Caulfield with Shooting for Gold in The Heath (1100m, Group 3).
The Shooting To Win gelding, after three fourths during his hometown’s carnival, ran third in the VRC Aurie’s Star Stakes on his debut in Melbourne.
The O’Dea-Hoysted unit also grabbed the Listed MRC Regal Roller Stakes a fortnight ago with Uncommon James.
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A Good Read
In 2006, Geraldine Brooks, often described as an Australian-American journalist and novelist, won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel ‘March’.
The wordsmith’s latest product, ‘Horse’, is recommended for those with a passion for equine material and an appreciation of historical fiction.
Meticulous research underpins her tale, which centres on the thoroughbred Lexington, a true American star of the mid-nineteenth century.
Brooks has other threads and themes running through her cleverly constructed book.
Readers should not prematurely sneak a peak at the information chronicled at the the very end.
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Reminder: Springtime racing is scheduled for Nanango on Saturday, September 10.
