Dick Leech set to dominate Alice Springs awards night
Evergreen NT trainer Dick Leech is on the verge of achieving something quite unique at the 2023 Alice Springs Turf Club’s presentation night set down for this weekend.
The function, which will honour horses, trainers and jockeys following their success during the 2022/23 season, takes place at the Pioneer Park racecourse on Saturday night following the five-event race meeting scheduled on the same day.
Last month, Leech picked up four of the five major equine awards with Write Your Name, Early Crow, and Century Fox at the Top End Racing Awards hosted by the Darwin Turf Club at Fannie Bay.
Write Your Name was named Horse of the Year after also claiming the Middle Distance/Stayer of the Year award.
Early Crow was adjudged Sprinter of the Year, while Century Fox picked up the Three-Year-Old of the Year honour.
The stablemates are now in line to win the same award in their respective categories at the Alice Springs Turf Club’s night of nights.
Write Your Name, an eight-year-old gelding by Written Tycoon, finished third in the $60,000 Chief Ministers Cup (1600m) at weight-for-age level during the Darwin Cup Carnival in July before taking out the $200,000 Darwin Cup (2050m) on August 7.
Early Crow, a five-year-old gelding by Kuroshio, won the $135,000 Palmerston Sprint (1200m) on August 5, while Century Fox, a four-year-old gelding by Eurozone, finished a narrow second in the $75,000 Darwin Guineas (1600m) and posted two wins during the Darwin Cup Carnival.
Significantly, the exploits of all three horses in the Red Centre either before or during the Alice Springs Cup Carnival in April enhanced their prospects when nominated for the Top End Racing Awards.
After producing mediocre form, Write Your Name suddenly clicked into gear and won three straight at Pioneer Park before taking out the $110,000 Alice Springs Cup (2000m) on April 30.
Early Crow won three races from four starts before finishing eighth in the $100,000 Pioneer Sprint on Alice Springs Cup Day.
Century Fox won the $50,000 NT Guineas (1600m) when he made his debut in Central Australia before backing up 13 days later to finish fifth in the Alice Springs Cup.
For Leech to win Middle Distance/Stayer of the Year, Sprinter of the Year and Three-Year-Old in both the Top End and Red Centre would be unprecedented.
The winners in all three classifications on Saturday night will also be considered for the Horse of the Year, so there’s a distinct possibility that Leech could also win the biggest award that both Darwin and Alice Springs Racing have to offer.
Other horses nominated for the Middle Distance/Stayer of the Year award include Paul Gardner’s recently retired 11-year-old mare Roughly, who had a spectacular 2022/23 campaign, and the impressive Sheila Arnold-trained six-year-old gelding Qualis.
Terry Gillett’s eight-year-old gelding Supreme Attraction, who won the Pioneer Sprint before winning a further four races in a row, Gillett’s ever-consistent five-year-old gelding Brat, and nine-year-old gelding Liberty Blue, trained by Lisa Whittle, Scott Whittle, and Rene Taylor in Alice Springs last season, who won five straight in August and September, were also nominated for the Sprinter of the Year award.
The Kevin Lamprecht-trained Daniher, a four-year-old gelding these days, is the only other horse nominated for the Three-Year-Old of the Year award after finishing second in the NT Guineas before heading north and winning two races from four starts in Darwin.
Leech, who runs stables in Alice Springs and Darwin, will also be recognised as the top trainer in the Alice Springs and Provincial Premiership for the 2022/23 season after landing 27 winners.
The winner of so many feature races in the NT over the years, Leech had never previously ended the season as the leading trainer in either the Top End or the Red Centre.
Darwin-based Sonja Logan picked up her first ever jockeys’ title in the NT as Central Australia’s leading rider with 26 wins, while Dakota Gillett, second in the outright premiership, was the leading apprentice with 24 victories.