Darwin’s St Patrick’s Day full of highlights and wild weather
It certainly was an eventful St Patrick’s Day Cup meeting hosted by the Darwin Turf Club on Saturday.
Leading Top End trainer Gary Clarke continued his monopoly on the features at Fannie Bay when Siakam (Paul Denton) led from start to finish to win the $40,000 St Patrick’s Day Cup (1600m) from stablemate Influential Jack (Jarrod Todd) with Phil Cole’s Brother Bassy (Wayne Davis) third.
That was the last race on the seven-event program, with plenty of drama unfolding earlier in the day during the running of race three.
A storm dumped heavy rain for the duration of the Galway Girl 0-58 Handicap (1300m) turning the dry and firm Fannie Bay track into a wet and muddy surface.
Poor visibility also made it tough going for the jockeys and horses – as well as for race-caller Craig Sant, who understandably found it difficult identifying the jockey’s silks as the field negotiated the back straight.
What’s more there were plenty of winning hopes half way down the home straight before the Tayarn Halter-trained Zou Zou Kacanarkis, a recent arrival from Queensland, burst through the pack to edge out stablemate More Snitzel (Jade Hampson) and Chris Pollard’s Go Bundle (Dakota-Lee Gillett).
The bookmakers were celebrating as the first three across the line started at $10, $18 and $16, respectively, while Cole’s fourth-placed Floreat Pica (Davis) jumped at $14.
For winning jockey Paul Shiers, who has been battling a shoulder injury, it was his first winner since October 22 when he just happened to celebrate his 400th career victory on Halter’s The Kid.
Apprentice Emma Lines fell from her mount Nokondi – trained by Cole – approaching the home turn near the 500m and although escaping serious injury she forfeited her remaining four rides before dad David escorted her to Royal Darwin Hospital for treatment.
After further observation, the 16-year-old spent Saturday night in her own bed at home.
“I’m OK, scans came back clear,” she said on Sunday.
“No broken bones or internal bleeding, sprained ankle and an abrasion and bruising on my liver.”
Since making a winning debut on December 9, the teenager has endured three mishaps with her saddle either slipping or shifting – twice during a race and once during a trial.
Lines fell during the trial injuring her leg, which kept her sidelined for almost a month.
It was an interesting start to the day when Clarke’s Mr Cashman, who would have started as favourite in Heat 8 of the Summer Sprint Series (1300m) – an open handicap – was scratched on Saturday morning an hour after final acceptances were declared.
That opened the door for the Cole stable, who started the day with a quinella when Saccharo (Davis) – the $1.45 favourite in the four-horse race – toppled stablemate Colhoun (Lines) with Halter’s I Am The Fox (Shiers) doing his Alice Springs Cup preparations no harm by finishing solidly for third.
Next race, the Four Leaf Clover 0-58 Handicap (1300m), Chole Baxter’s Del Viento (Casey Hunter) bolted en route to the barriers and although finally restrained it was scratched – a pity as the four-year-old gelding had been racing well and it was the favourite.
That opened the door for Tom Logan’s Ye Hella (Sonja Wiseman), who finally won at the third attempt in the Top End as a $4 favourite from $7 hopes I’m A Dreamer (Jade Hampson) from the Halter yard and Looking For You (Lines) from the Cole stable.
Come race four, Logan and partner Wiseman combined for a winning double when the remarkable Fromthenevernever ($2.25 fav) caught Cole’s $4.80 fancy Vunivalu (Ianish Luximon) and shook off Chris Nash’s $3.90 contender Archie James (Hampson) with 200m to go to seal victory in an exciting Luck Of The Irish 0-70 Handicap (1200m).
After taking 13 months to recover from injury, Fromthenevernever has managed two wins and a third since returning to action on Australia Day.
That also made it 14 wins for the season for Logan where he trails Clarke (27), Cole (16) and Halter (15) in the Top End and Country premiership race, while Wiseman (24), who also rode her 400th winner on the same day as Shiers, extended her lead over Jarrod Todd (19) in the jockey’s premiership.
There were plenty of chances in the What’s The Craic 0-58 Handicap (1100m) and considering there had already been an element of unpredictability throughout the day the win by $26 outsider Turnstar (Ianish Luximon), who clicked into gear once turning for home, came as no surprise.
The win made it a double for the Cole, which also cheered up the stable following the Emma Lines incident, with Turnstar, who hadn’t won since March last year, holding off Halter’s fast-finishing $4 favourite Raffalli (Shiers) with Nash’s $14 starter Air Command (Denton) a distant third.
After enduring disappointment earlier in the day, Baxter and Hunter celebrated success in the penultimate race when first-starter Aplomado ($9) hit the front at the 800m before kicking clear in the home straight to overcome Logan’s $1.40 favourite Beau Flyer (Wiseman) and Chris Pollard’s $51 bolter Ruby Ruby Ruby (Dakota-Lee Gillett), who stormed home for third.
For Baxter, who only launched her training career last June, has five horses in her stable and the win by three-year-old gelding Aplomado after just four trials in NSW made it seven career victories and six wins for the season.
For Hunter, she joined Stan Tsaikos and Davis in equal third place behind Wiseman and Todd in the jockey’s premiership with nine wins.