Racing results for the 2022 Alice Springs Cup Day | Sunday, 01/05
Race 1 – $30,000 Sky Racing 3YO/0-68 Handicap (1200m) results
After three wins on Friday’s program, Strathalbyn trainer Kym Healy kicked off Alice Springs Cup Day on Sunday in style with Starlite Valley posting an emphatic victory.
Healy has a high opinion of the three-year-old filly with Starlite Valley ($1.80 fav with Palmberbet) making it two wins from as many starts at Pioneer Park after victory against her own age group at a 0-66 level on April 23.
Starlite Valley finished second and third in maiden class over 1100m in Adelaide late last year before getting the cash in a 1200m maiden at her third career start at Morphettville on Boxing Day.
Following a spell it was off to Alice Springs.
Sairyn Fawke, who booted Shame Shame Shame ($5), Caitlin’s Angel ($6) and Starlite Rebel ($6) home for Healy on Friday, had Starlite Valley (58kg) sitting second behind Greg Connor’s Manhattan Man (Jarrod Todd) turning for home.
The South Australian galloper, who travelled beautifully, burst clear in the home straight to win comfortably by three lengths from Lisa Whittle’s fast-finishing $21 outsider Omoplata (Wayne Kerford) with Terry Gillett’s $11 hope Esashi (Stan Tsaikos) two lengths adrfit in third place.
Manhattan Man ($17), second behind stablemate Flying Start in the NT Guineas (1600m) a fortnight ago, ended up running fourth.
Race 2 – $30,000 Gallagher Insurance 0-70 Handicap (1100m) results
It’s no secret that Gary Clarke has been the dominant trainer in Darwin for the past decade, but it took him until Cup Day to finally taste success during the Alice Springs Carnival.
And it took Asahi Bearing (Jarrod Todd), who started at $18, to achieve the feat after leading from start to finish to win a high-profile race for a talented bunch of gallopers that missed a start in the Pioneer Sprint.
It was the second win at Alice Springs for the five-year-old mare after saluting for Red Centre trainer Greg Connor against 0-54 class over 1000m in July last year.
Asahi Bearing ended up in the Clarke stable soon after for two starts and one win in Darwin and one appearance in Katherine before having two starts for South Australian trainer Shane Oxlade at Morphettville in November and March.
Highly competitive when allowed to lead, Asahi Bearing was a last start fifth in 0-76 class over 1000m behind Kerry Petrick’s Our Luca in his NT return on April 2.
The former Victorian galloper has now won five races from 11 starts in the NT after failing to post a win in 16 starts in Victoria and South Australia.
Asahi Bearing kicked clear in the home straight and managed to overcome the in-form Mighty Murt (Paul Denton), a $5.50 with the top bookmakers hope from the Lisa Whittle stable, by a nose with Whittle’s ever-consistent $16 chance Mathematics (Sairyn Fawke) a length away in third place.
Race 3 – $30,000 Povey Stirk 0-58 Handicap (1000m) results
After watching her chargers finish second in the opening two races, it was third time lucky for Alice Springs trainer Lisa Whittle when $3.10 favourite with Bet365 Harpuna (Paul Denton) won his first race in the Red Centre.
Like stablemates Omoplata and Mighty Murt in the opening two races, the former South Australian five-year-old gelding adopted a similar tactic by settling behind the leaders before hitting the go button once turning into the home straight.
Whittle, a highly successful trainer in Alice Springs, certainly has her stable peaking on the most important day of the Alice Springs Cup Carnival with Harpuna swamping Scott Whittle’s Liberty Blue (Wayne Kerford) half way down the straight to win by three quarters of a length.
In the end it was a win for Lisa Whittle over her brother Scott, who brought a team from Strathalbyn in South Australia for the Alice Carnival.
Veteran Alice Springs jockey Wayne Kerford saddled up for his final race meeting before retirement and the Pioneer Park crowd were anticipating a fairytale when Liberty Blue ($7.50) kicked clear after passing the leader Faith And Love (Wayne Davis) turning for home.
It was just Harpuna’s second win in 15 starts, but with seven minor placings he certainly has got ability over the short course and jumping from gate 10 proved no problem
For Liberty Blue it was yet another second in four starts at Pioneer Park, while Greg Connor’s $16 hope White Kaps (Jessie Philpot) rallied to finish two lengths away in third place after finishing 11th last start after returning from a spell.
Race 4 – $30,000 Alice Springs Brewing Co 0-76 Handicap (2000m) results
The Dick Leech trained Lunch Session (Paul Denton) has produced a stirling performance with an all the way victory in the consolation race for those who missed a start in the Alice Springs Cup.
The five-year-old gelding ($6), who won on his return to the Red Centre over 1400m on April 2 after arriving from Victoria, held on in a blanket finish to overcome Mark Nyhan’s in-form $2.45 favourite Jet Jackson (Sonja Wiseman) and Barry Cooke’s fast-finishing $81 roughie Just Hang Up (Ianish Luximon).
Angela Forster’s Orcein (Sairyn Fawke), seemingly gone at the home turn, and Nicole Irwin’s Stealthy Lucas (Jessie Philpot) were next with less than a length separating the first five horses across the line.
Lunch Session, who was third in the 2020 NT Guineas (1600m) at Pioneer Park before finishing second behind the impressive Paghman over 1600m on Cup Day, began his career in Queensland before debuting in the Alice and has raced in a Victoria a further 14 times since.
After a last start third over 1600m, Lunch Session maintained a two length from the time they swung out of the straight at the 1500m mark until arriving at the home turn with 400m to go.
In the home straight, Lunch Session, who never left the rails after jumping from the inside gate, managed to fight off his rivals, but full credit to Paul Denton as he produced a five star performance in the saddle.
Jet Jackson brought excellent Alice Springs and Darwin form to the table, but he had never raced beyond 1600m previously and was a drifting favourite before they jumped.
Race 5 – $30,000 Scope Building NT 0-62 Handicap (1600m) results
Wicked Addiction produced an eye-catching effort last start at Pioneer Park when she flew home to finish a narrow second, so to post a third win in just seven starts certainly came as no surprise.
The four-year-old gelding, a first up eighth over 1000m in the Red Centre on April 9, sat just behind the leaders for a major portion of the race after jumping from gate 11 before securing the lead from John Peacock’s Kyd Rock (Sairyn Fawke) turning into the home straight.
From that point Wicked Addiction (Sonja Wiseman), starting as a $3 favourite, established a comfortable lead to make it a winning double for Strathalbyn trainer Kym Healy.
Second placed Halogem (Ianish Luximon), from the Jess Glesson stable, made a hash of the start and was a clear last, but wound up the engine to make a mockery of its disappointing recent form.
Eight-year-old gelding Halogem ($41) had enjoyed unbridled success in the Northern Territory before going off the boil, but he is seemingly back to his best with a tremendous performance.
Well Known (Michael Heagney), a $4.20 chance with Betfair, has performed admirably for Port Augusta trainer Trevor Montgomerie in Alice Springs and managed to finish third after copping an unsettling bump at the 1300m mark turning into the back straight.
Therefore, Halogem and Well Known were far from disgraced, but looking to the future it all looks promising for Wicked Addiction and it’s further good news for Kym Healy after his stable saw Shame Shame Shame break down after winning on Friday.
Race 6 – $30,000 Colemans Printing Handicap (1400m) results
Angela Forster trained Montalto to victory in the 2016 Alice Springs Cup when she resided in Port Lincoln.
These days Forster resides and trains in Darwin, and she got to celebrate once again at the venue where she achieved one of her best achievements when Starouz (Sairyn Fawke) posted a commanding win.
Boasting only respectable form in the Top End at Fannie Bay without a win in four starts after arriving from Victoria, Starouz ($9.50) was making his first appearance in Central Australia.
The six-year-old gelding, who won four races in 29 starts for the Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr stable in Victoria, was a last start third in open company over 1300m in Darwin before making the 1500km trek south.
Fawke, who rode a treble for Kym Healy on Friday, made it a double after allowing Starouz to settle in second place behind Greg Connor’s in-form $2.60 favourite Bar Gem (Jessie Philpot) turning into the back straight.
Starouz made his winning move at the 500m mark and once turning for home with just over 300m to go the issue was never beyond doubt as there were no moves from the back and Bar Gem had called it a day.
Carrol Hunter’s eight-year-old marvel Exonerate (Wayne Davis), starting at $8.50 in his 74th appearance, once again proved competitive to finish second, while $10 hope Mellors (Jarrod Todd), a new face to the Gary Clarke stable, ran third in his NT debut.
Race 7 – $30,000 Hygain Curculian Pro 0-62 Handicap (1200m) results
In one of the more open races on the program, Phil Cole’s Colhoun (Wayne Davis) ended a six month stint in Alice Springs in style with a solid win after two seconds and a third leading into the race.
The six-year-old gelding ($10) was among a plethora of chances and to get the cash didn’t necessarily come as a surprise – he now boasts five wins, 11 seconds and seven thirds in 34 starts.
Formerly from the Rob Gulberti stable in Western Australia, Colhoun arrived at the Cole stable in Darwin in August 2020 after a final run for his former trainer during the 2020 Darwin Cup Carnival.
Colhoun, who made his one and only previous start in the Red Centre in September 2020 when running fourth, shared the lead with Terry Huish’s Frilly Design (Jarrod Todd), Dick Leech’s $4 favourite Halgard (Sonja Wiseman) and Terry Gillett’s Extraction (Stan Tsaikos) with all four horse spread across the track.
Hugging the rails, Colhoun kicked away in the home straight to finish two lengths ahead of fast-finishing back markers Young Druro ($26), trained by Garry Lefoe Jnr and ridden by Casey Hunter, and Trevor Montgomerie’s City Jet (Michael Heagney), an $8.50 chance with Playup who was backing up after running on Friday.
There was drama before the race with Phil Cole’s Sedona (Jason Maskiell), Jess Gleeson’s Defactor (Ianish Luximon) and Scott Whittle’s Yowza (Wayne Kerford) scratched at the barrier when refusing to load, which was a tragedy for Kerford as he was preparing to make his last appearance as a jockey before retirement.