HORSE RACING
By LIAM DURKIN
LATROBE Valley Racing Club finally got the weather it desired (and deserved) at the weekend.
Sun shone down on Glenview Park, Traralgon for the club’s Derby Day meeting last Saturday – one of just two race meetings held in Traralgon each year.
The volunteer-run club has been beset with rotten luck in recent years, with a number of setbacks threatening to derail its meetings. There was no denying racing this time though, with Latrobe Valley Racing Club hosting a seven-card meeting on a superbly rated Good 4 track.
Great fields and great finishes highlighted the meeting, the first of three major racing events scheduled for the Latrobe Valley this month.
Pundits did not have to wait long to see a close call, with the Race 1 Latrobe Valley Express Maiden Plate decided by a head.
Much like the newsroom, stakes were high across 1100 metres, which saw Astari edge home for trainer Mark Walker.
Walker completed a double next up, when three-year-old filly Titahi Bay timed its run well to lead at the 400m mark all the way to the finish in the Race 2 Latrobe City Council Maiden Plate (1430m).
She saw off good competition from Neck High, ridden by Trafalgar jockey Jason Maskiell and trained by Sale’s Andrew Perdon.
Fellow Sale trainer Sharyn Trolove was more than three lengths back in third with Vire River.
The Race 3 Morwell Bowling Club Maiden Plate (1900m) had to be seen to be believed, after six-year-old gelding Captain Cat won by an astonishing eight lengths.
Such a performance made up for consecutive seconds in recent weeks, and could well have shown the horse’s true form under the training of Brett Conlon.
Sale trainer Angela Bench had success in the Race 4 WIN Television Gippsland 0-56 Handicap (1900m), after Cudmore Street broke clear to win by more than two lengths.
Four lengths behind was Norma’s Fleet, also trained at Sale by Kerry Farrugia.
Moe trainer Catherine Martindale had something to celebrate in the Race 5 Traralgon Cup November 30 0-56 Handicap (1430m), after six-year-old gelding Ze Bee Nine won on the inside, holding its first position at the 800m mark to win by a head.
Maskiell found something extra riding I’m Dynamite, who put in a great effort to finish third for Sale trainer Susie Wells after sitting at the 400m.
Maskiell lost the Race 6 TRFM Fillies and Mares 0-56 Handicap (1430m) by literally a nose, in a finish race caller Adam Olszanski said was too close to call live.
The judges determined the winner was Sinister Sauce for Simon Zahra, over the Maskiell-ridden Trinity’s D’Oro for Brian McGrath.
Maskiell finished the meeting ridding a winner in the Race 7 bet365 Same Race Multi 0-56 Handicap (1100m), breaking from a packed field in the last stretch on board Jessup.
It was an all-Traf podium, as trainers Paul and Tracey Templeton took second and third with Shamrock Bay (ridden by Moe Cup-winning jockey Craig Newitt) and Epicus.
Fittingly, Derby Day fell on Melbourne Cup weekend. The very same Melbourne Cup trophy that was presented in Flemington yesterday toured Traralgon and Moe last September.
Latrobe Valley Racing Club will now turn its attention to the Traralgon Cup on Sunday, November 30.
Racing lovers will get a full complement, with the Moe Cup on two Sundays before (November 16).
