David Gilbert
LOCAL trainer Belinda O’Loughlin was the toast of the Coleraine and Casterton communities after Muntham Missile won her second Hamilton Cup last Saturday.
It was the eight-year-old mare’s third country cup success, having previously won the Hamitlon Cup in 2020 and the Millicent Cup in 2021.
Muntham Missile’s six owners live in Coleraine and Casterton and dividing the two towns is the imposing Muntham hill, hence the naming of the mare.
While the owners could not be trackside at Hamilton to see the cup victory in 2020 due to COVID restrictions, they were there in full voice on Saturday.
Patrons in the Coleraine and Casterton hotels became acutely aware of Muntham Missile’s victory when the owners celebrated post race during the late afternoon and into the night.
Muntham Missile was originally trained at Horsham by Paul Preusker for her first seven runs, which included a debut victory in 2018 at Donald.
It may be the case of “the one that got away” for Preusker as Muntham Missile has since won 10 races from 40 starts for the O’Loughlin stable.
The mare grows an extra leg on very wet ground so the Heavy 10 rating at Hamilton was made to order and she was backed accordingly to start second favourite ($3-$2.70) in the 2200-metre race.
In what was a very disappointing cup field (numbers wise), only five runners contested the $60,000 race, many trainers obviously electing to steer clear of the heavy conditions.
It was money for jam for the backers of Muntham Missile, thanks to a peach of a ride from Dean Holland who gave her the run of the race in second spot.
So well was she travelling, Holland released the brakes at the 400 metres and Muntham Missile took off, quickly putting a space on her rivals and the cup was never in doubt from that point on.
That was Holland’s first ride on the stayer and I am sure the owners will be keen to retain his services whenever possible in the future.
Also disappointing for the Hamilton club was the attendance on Saturday, which was well down on expectations.
However, the same could not be said for the other country cup held the same day in Victoria at Manangatang.
Punters returned to the small town between Mildura and Swan Hill in droves following a two-year absence to pack the course for the once-a-year meeting.
Bordertown trainer Jeff Searle headed to the little outpost with two runners.
After Gold Empire ran fourth in the opening event, Searle had to wait around for nearly 4.5 hours to saddle up Good Girl Bella in the final race.
It was worth it though as Good Girl Bella ($16) resumed from a spell with a barnstorming finish to win the 1175-metre BM 58 handicap and give jockey Sairyn Fawke a winning treble for the meeting.
Fawke also won the feature event, the Manangatang Cup, aboard Bannerton for Swan Hill trainer Austy Coffey.
In Adelaide, Mount Gambier apprentice Jacob Opperman rode his second metropolitan winner this current season when the Travis Doudle trained Rushaway Lad ($6.50) resumed from a four-month spell to win the BM 72 handicap at Morphettville .
DOUBLE AT OUYEN
LOCAL harness racing fans are accustomed to seeing the striking colours of Glencoe owners Peter and Lesley Medhurst (green, pink and blue) flash over the line as winners here at Greenwald Paceway.
Patrons at faraway Ouyen (100 kilometres south of Mildura) last Sunday were somewhat shocked to see the colours win twice for the Medhursts, their trainer/son in law Barry Finnis and driver/grandson Jayson Finnis.
Shocked because both winners – Royal Speech and True Blue Rose – were at good odds and had been out of the winner’s stall for some time.
Royal Speech, who won this year’s Mount Gambier Gold Cup back in April, won at Ouyen as a 33/1 chance to make it four wins in 2022.
It was one of the feature races on the program at Ouyen offering $10,000 all up in stake money and the gelding won the race more like an odds-on favourite, thanks to a brilliant Jayson Finnis drive.
After being hemmed in on the pegs early, Finnis was able to put Royal Speech into the favoured one-one sit and had the race won as soon as he charged to the lead on the home turn.
After a third at Horsham in late September, Royal Speech ran eighth at Stawell on October 5 “where he would not settle and pulled hard in behind the leader,” Peter Medhurst stated.
It was much harder work for the second leg of the stable double when True Blue Rose ($7) got up in the last stride to score by half a head in the NR 50 pace.
From the inside of the second row, Finnis was able to sit behind the leader Tropical Storm before taking full advantage of the sprint lane over the final 150 metres.
CAREER BEST WIN
THE Wayne Walters stable is currently the biggest in the Limestone Coast – by a fair bit – and had the honour of winning the first local cup of the season at Penola last Sunday.
That was courtesy of Ali Orphan who produced the best win of her career to take out the 1700-metre Kalangadoo Cup for jockey Kate Walters.
Ali Orphan had won the previous start in BM 58 grade at Mount Gambier and handled the rise in class to beat her seven rivals fair and square.
Backed from $12 into $8, Ali Orphan was still last at the 400 metres and defied the pattern of racing up until then to run home strongly near the rails and win by nearly a length.
Budding apprentice Maggie Collett and senior rider Eran Boyd shared the honours on the day with doubles each.
Boyd’s second leg of her double came aboard the Adelaide galloper Transference and was a late pick up ride for her, as she replaced Christine Puls who was doubly engaged and opted to ride Aeecee Prince.
Glenburnie co-trainers Bob and Kane Post won the opening event when Allgo kicked clear inside the furlong and then withstood a strong rally from the favourite Hasta La Missile.
Collett tactically won the 1700-metre maiden plate when she shot the Sue and Jason Jaensch trained Costa Margo to a four-length lead at the 500 metres and, despite seemingly walking over the line, had just enough in hand to hold off Ravnikar.
Trainer Peter Hardacre justified the trip from Murray Bridge with one runner for the day when Destiny’s Republic ($8-$5.50) led and beat Thanasi by a head in the 1100-metre BM 62 handicap.
Despite fine conditions, it was one of the – if not the – smallest Kalangadoo Cup day crowds, with minimal support from the Kalangadoo community.
The feeling amongst Kalangadoo people I spoke to is the meeting is best suited when conducted in November as it was some years ago, plus better promotion of the day could have resulted in a bigger crowd.
Winners of the two trials held after the final race were the well credentialed pair of Farooq (trained by Sue Murphy) and Young Jimmy (Darryl Dodson).
TWO MEETINGS IN TWO DAYS
MID-week racing returns to this region with two meetings in as many days next week.
The Casterton club will conduct its final meeting for 2022 on Tuesday, October 17 followed by Mount Gambier the following day.
Casterton originally were to hold this meeting on August 7 but Victorian authorities opted to move it to October.
In years gone by, having two meetings so close together would have had a detrimental effect on horse numbers for one or both clubs, but with the huge number of horses currently in work in Victoria, the impact will hopefully be minimal.
There are eight races programmed for Mount Gambier on Wednesday which will see the running rail back in the true position.
