David Gilbert
MILLICENT trainer Jeremy Kenny has never been afraid to utilise the services of female jockeys.
Proof of that is the fact that during the past six months female riders have ridden 12 of his past 13 runners.
Most of the mounts have gone to Adelaide jockey Eran Boyd for the former Ian “Ned” Walker trained stayer Bear Arms.
Boyd was all set to ride Bear Arms at Geelong last week but was a race morning withdrawal due a death in her family.
She was aboard the mare for her previous win at Warrnambool on July 18.
“Eran was very upset when she rang me to tell me the news,” Kenny said.
As luck would have it, the ride went to none other than Australia’s number one female jockey Jamie Kah in the 2470 metre BM 64 handicap.
“The original plan was for Jamie to pick Eran up at Avalon airport and take her to the races at Geelong.” Kenny explained.
“When Eran was unavailable, she then asked Jamie to take the ride instead.”
Talk about a magnificent change of luck.
Kah did her part by giving Bear Arms ($4.40-$4.80) a charmed run from barrier three in the $37,500 event, and the seven-year-old galloper went on to win her eighth career race for career earnings of $187,955.
Bear Arms is a gun performer on very wet tracks and there was a query as to whether the Soft 6 rating at Geelong was wet enough for her.
“She won by a length and was never going to lose from the top of the straight,” Kenny added.
“As it turned out, she handled the conditions well and pulled up good after the race.”
For Kah,to win in the colours of “Ned” Walker brought back many memories from almost a decade ago, and the occasion was not forgotten by her.
“It is good to be back in the colours of “Ned” Walker (white and gold) as I rode plenty of winners for him earlier in my career as an apprentice,” Kah said.
“Bear Arms is a very nice mare, she gave me a good ride and kept fighting for me.”
It was a long day for Kenny as he made the return trip to Geelong by himself and any thoughts of a celebration were put on hold.
If he had been able to celebrate on the way home like “Ned” used to do, Kenny probably would not have arrived home until the early hours of the following morning.
“I don’t mind travelling and the trip to Geelong (10 hours return) is about the same as going to Adelaide,” he said.
“I mentioned to Josh Bromley (part owner of Bear Arms) that I had five days off work and it was decided to head to Geelong and it all paid off brilliantly.”
Kenny is a hobby trainer and only has a couple of horses in work at any one time.
Having a winner from the Millicent area has become a rarity these days, as trainer numbers – and winners – from the town and district have dropped off considerably in the past five years.
“Most of my training work is in the pines or down on the beach, Kenny said.”
“As for Bear Arms, we will now look for a similar type race for her.”
POOR DECISION
FOR over 50 years, Melbourne radio station 927 (also known as RSN and formerly 3UZ) has been regarded as the leading station in Australia for coverage of racing, trotting and greyhounds.
Its coverage of racing – in the eastern half of Australia especially – has been second to none, but that all changed last Saturday in regards to racing.
If you are like me and enjoy driving around Victoria listening to good music and/or racing on the radio, then 927 is the station to go to for racing either directly or through its many country Victorian satellite AM and FM stations.
So it came as a shock as I drove through the Wimmera to discover that 927 now only broadcasts races in Melbourne, Sydney and the provincial Victorian meetings on a Saturday.
Some would say, in typical ego driven Victorian fashion, the powers-that-be at 927 no longer rate Adelaide and Brisbane races as relevant to broadcast.
Instead listeners are now bombarded with Melbourne racing tipsters giving “expert comments” and run of the mill views of trainers prior to a Melbourne race, followed by a seemingly endless review of the race afterwards.
So much for providing a decent service to the Victorian public who regularly bet on races elsewhere in Australia on a Saturday and rely on radio coverage.
Thank goodness RadioTAB (88.0 FM), our racing station here in South Australia, continues to cover races nation wide as well as providing race day scratchings which 927 has not done for some time.
COUNTRY CUPS IN FULL SWING
WE are now in country cup mode in all of Victoria and parts of South Australia up until almost Christmas.
Balaklava started the ball rolling in South Australia last month followed four days later by the record breaking Mindarie-Halidon meeting.
In this region, Coleraine had its cup day meeting late last month and, considering the cold and wet conditions, the crowd was satisfactory.
The big winner last weekend was Murtoa, helped by the best day weather wise for over four months.
These days, Murtoa only races twice a year, and the locals I spoke to stated it was the biggest crowd at Murtoa for many years, helped by a large percentage of young racegoers.
It was pleasing to catch up with Wimmera Racing administrator/stalwart Max Magrath who is back attending meetings after a prolonged absence due to poor health.
TWO LOCAL CUPS THIS WEEKEND
THERE are two cup meetings in two days in this region this weekend.
It is Hamilton cup day tomorrow, a meeting that has had a resurgence in recent years, and club officials will be closely watching the skies as the Hamilton track does not handle a lot of rain and was rated a Heavy 8 earlier this week.
The only local runner amongst the Hamilton cup nominations is Muntham Missile and, for her, the wetter the better for her chances to make it two Hamilton cup victories.
At Penola on Sunday it’s Kalangadoo cup day, the first of the cup meetings in the Limestone Coast this season.
The Kalangadoo cup is a restricted race for BM 66 horses and the meeting is a more relaxed day in comparison to other local cup meetings.
Looking for a good bet at Penola, may we suggest the promising gelding Maracourt in the 1300-metre BM 68 handicap.
