David Gilbert
THE career of the five-year-old gelding Wild Willy soared to new heights with his victory in last week’s $27,000 Coonawarra Vignerons Cup at Penola.
At only his second start in open company, Wild Willy beat his rivals fair and square after being at the tail of the field for the first half of the 1700-metre race.
Just when the easing favourite Thrill Kill ($2-$2.70) looked set for victory at the top of the straight, Wild Willy ($5) continued his long sustained run to win his seventh race from 22 starts.
Wild Willy started his career a few years back in rather sensational fashion, winning six of his first 11 starts, all on Limestone Coast tracks.
His only other run in open company was a fifth in last year’s Blue Lake handicap here at Glenburnie behind Prospectus who has franked that form with a hat trick of wins recently in good company at Warrnambool.
Wild Willy has become somewhat of a track specialist at Penola and now boasts five wins there from eight starts.
For his Mount Gambier trainer Lee Creek, it was his first Coonawarra Vignerons Cup success and his fourth Limestone Coast cup victory.
All the others came from his good stayer Club Royale who won the 2011 Bordertown Cup and then followed up the following year with wins in the Naracoorte and Penola cups.
It was also breaking ground for apprentice Jacob Opperman as that was his first cup victory in the Limestone Coast and second country cup success, having won the 2021 Casterton Cup on the Sue Murphy trained Farooq.
That gave Opperman a race-to-race double, having won the previous race on Thanasi for father/trainer Jamie Opperman.
Punters who follow young Opperman had a windfall at Strathalbyn last Sunday in the BM 56 handicap over 1200 metres.
Opperman was aboard the Heather Lehmann trained Marvelous Night, ($81-$51), who was first-up after five runs last winter in Darwin and had no trouble leading all the way at Strathalbyn.
ONE OF THE BEST
THE Penola Racing Club could not have scripted it better for last week’s Coonawarra Vignerons Cup meeting.
Perfect weather made for a sensational day and it was easily the best meeting in the Limestone Coast for quite a few years.
Penola racecourse was a sea of colour for a crowd of around 1,500, with a bubbling atmosphere and Penola officials did their bit by providing plenty of outdoor tables, chairs and umbrellas for everyone to enjoy.
Warrnambool trainer Tom Dabernig has the best strike rate of any trainer in the Limestone Coast at present and took the honours for the day when both his gallopers got the chocolates.
One of those was the first starter Duo Perna who put up a big effort to win the 1400-metre maiden.
Last February at the Naracoorte Cup calcutta, guest speaker Sam Hayes offered – and sold – a 10 per cent share in Duo Perna and his new owners have already reaped the benefit with an immediate victory.
Horsham based apprentice Ryan Houston has only been riding since last November and chalked up his fourth career win on the Paul Preusker trained Stand For Me in the 1700-metre class one plate.
Ride of the day went to new apprentice Jade Doyle who somehow managed to find the fence from the outside barrier on Tales Of Conflict and hardly left the rails to win the opening event.
The horse to follow from Penola is Naseeb who boxed on extremely well for fourth in the Coonawarra Cup after racing three wide for the entire race.
NEW FOCUS FOR KOLPIN
DARREN Kolpin, a well known racing identity on both sides of the border, quit the position last month as track manager at Hamilton after six years in the role.
Formerly of Mount Gambier, Kolpin – who is also a gallops trainer – was the track manager here at Glenburnie for some years before accepting the position at Hamilton.
During his term at Hamilton, Kolpin was highly respected for his work ethic throughout western Victoria and by senior Victorian racing officials.
The interim track manager at Hamilton is Mick Hoy, a former leading western Victorian jockey.
Kolpin has also been the track manager at Coleraine and still retains that position.
“I have been overseeing Coleraine from here at Hamilton and will now concentrate solely on Coleraine,” Kolpin told The Border Watch earlier this week.
“There are improvements going on at Coleraine with irrigation and cambering of the track.
“I am currently negotiating a new contract with the Coleraine club plus I also have a heap of young horses in work here at my Hamilton stable.”
TEMPTING OFFER FOR RACEGOERS
THE Mount Gambier racing club have made a very tempting offer to racegoers attending the Summer cup meeting on Sunday.
For what is great value at $25, patrons can indulge in a meal and either a beer or wine in the upstairs dining room for which bookings can be made with the club.
Mount Gambier racing club president Peter George is confident of a good crowd, especially with near perfect weather predicted.
“As we have seen with the attendances at our December meeting and again earlier this month at our midweek meeting, crowds are starting to return to the races,” George stated.
“We are keen to see that continue and we have a couple of incentives for the public to attend on Sunday.”
“Victorian trainers continue to support us very well and, for the first time, the Geelong based stable of Leon and Troy Corstens have horses entered for Mount Gambier.”
Apart from the meal and drinks incentive, the punter’s shed downstairs (formerly the bold bookmaker and tote shed) will have tables and chairs set up for people to relax and enjoy the day’s racing.
The Summer cup meeting is returning to Glenburnie racecourse for the first time since 2017.
2004 was the inaugural running of the Summer cup, instigated by the Mount Gambier racing club, and it reached its pinnacle (crowd wise) in 2009 when 1,400 people saw the Sam Turner trained Fraaclase win with the late Chris Bryant in the saddle.
Due to the Glenburnie track reconstruction,which commenced in December 2017, the Summer cup was not run in 2018, replaced by the Spring cup which was run here at Glenburnie on November 5, 2017.
Then, due to the ongoing track reconstruction followed by further track issues, the Summer cup was held at either Penola or Bordertown from 2019 until 2022.
TROTS ON SUNDAY
STRAIGHT after the races out at Glenburnie, the Mount Gambier harness racing club has a twilight meeting scheduled for late Sunday afternoon.
From the contingent of local trainers who headed to Hamilton last Sunday for their cup meeting, only one returned home a winner.
That was Allendale’s David Kemp who had success in the NR 52-56 pace with Yappas Courage, well handled by claiming driver Ryan Sanderson.
The six-year-old gelding was good value at $10, and Sanderson played his part by using the sprint lane to advantage after Yappas Courage was under pressure from the 300-metre mark.
