By David Gilbert
“IT is not over until the fat lady sings” is a well known Australian saying, meaning that nothing is definite or set in concrete until everything is finalised.
The saying is suddenly quite apt to Limestone Coast racing as we are mid-way through the final month of the racing year.
For all intents and purposes, up until nine days ago Mount Gambier rider Kate Walters was being hailed as the winner of the 2022/23 Limestone Coast jockey’s premiership.
Walters had ridden 18 winners, 11 seconds and 11 thirds and held a lead of three wins over her nearest rival.
However, at the Mount Gambier meeting on Wednesday, July 5, Walters did not ride a winner (most unusual in this day and age) and had to be content with a second and a third.
Stepping up to the plate to inject new interest into the premiership were two of the jockeys doing the chasing, namely Harry Grace and Dominic Tourneur.
Both rode doubles at the meeting to make it a three-way battle going into the final meeting of the local season at Bordertown this Sunday.
Walters (18/12/12) clings to her lead with Grace (17/12/8) and Tourneur (16/15/13) close enough to make life very interesting.
Unlike Tourneur, the Warrnambool-based Grace does not regularly ride at Bordertown (nearly a four hour trip) but the 24-year-old is making the effort to head to the Tatiara this Sunday.
“There is no racing in western Victoria this Sunday and, at this stage, I may end up with nearly a full book of rides,” Grace told The Border Watch earlier this week.
Walters has won the premiership once before (2008/09) while three Victorian jockeys have won it this century (Dean Yendall in 2002/03, Holly McKechnie (2011/12) and Damian Thornton (2016/17).
Tourneur is quite accustomed to winning it and is chasing his fifth title, having won it previously in 2009/10, 2010/11, 2013/14 and 2018/19.
There will be at least one premiership going to the Walters family this season, as Kate’s father Wayne has the Limestone Coast trainer’s title all parcelled up with a lead of more than three wins over Sue Murphy.
For local apprentice Jacob Opperman, the chances of him winning a race for Gawler trainer Aaron Bain last Saturday were extremely good.
Opperman had seven rides for Bain at Gawler and came up trumps when Metro Legend ($3.90 fav.) made it two wins from his past three starts in the BM 85 handicap.
You won’t see Opperman’s name in the form guides for a while as he has headed to Queensland for a break in the winter sunshine.
Meanwhile, there will be plenty of interest for locals at Flemington tomorrow when the talented Royal Mile, formerly trained by Lee Creek, resumes racing for new trainers David Brideoake and Matt Jenkins.
INCREDIBLE STRIKE RATE
IS there no stopping Naracoorte trainer Greg Scholefield winning races in Adelaide this season?
Seemingly not.
He took three runners to Globe Derby Park last Saturday night for three winners, all in consecutive races in the space of an hour.
Not that you would have got rich from the trio, as an all up $5 win investment would have returned you $21.50.
All three winners – Hanging Fire, Rakero Storm and Dina Mio – started favourite and gave backers little reason for concern by leading all the way and scoring easily for driver Gaita Pullicino.
In what is a tremendous personal feat for Scholefield, his career stable earnings recently went through the $1 million barrier.
His winning strike rate this season stands at a remarkable 46 percent and at Globe Derby Park it is a staggering 61 percent.
Globe Derby Park last Monday was also the successful venue for trainer Kevin Von Duve when Smokin Strepo ($1.30 fav.) broke his maiden status at start number eight, also with Pullicino in the sulky.
Up at Mildura last Friday night, local trainer Andrew Clarke had a winner when the consistent Luv Me Or Hate Me ($3.90 fav.) made it two wins from his past three starts.
That was in the NR 50 pace when claiming driver Declan Murphy was able to lead all the way with the 11-year-old pacer from gate four.
PUNTERS TOOK NOTICE
HIGHLY respected gallops trainer Phillip Stokes rarely sends a horse to run here in the Limestone Coast.
Although Stokes these days is based in Melbourne, he still has a large stable in Adelaide and last week he sent just the one runner to Glenburnie to contest the 1200-metre maiden.
Punters were quick to take the lead and Lines Of Glory was heavily supported from $2.30 into $1.80 favourite.
But they had to do a bit of sweating before collecting as the second favourite Kikusi looked home and hosed at the furlong pole before Lines Of Glory finished stoutly to claim the major prize by a length.
These days, the Warrnambool-based Luke Williams wears two hats as a rider and as a trainer.
Williams only has one horse in work and Honour The Skills gave him heaps of pleasure by winning the 1400-metre maiden here last week with Williams in the saddle.
Honour The Skills was an easing favourite ($2.40-$2.70) and bookmakers were probably quite happy to pay out as the outsider Bahgallah Boy met with plenty of support ($151-$41).
Formerly trained by Kay Edwards at Casterton, Bahgallah Boy is now with Sue Murphy and he ran the race of his career to storm home for a two-length second.
Many punters regarded the Tom Dabernig trained Joe’s Giggle as the best bet of the day in the 1803-metre BM 64 handicap, especially after the scratching of his main danger Fast ‘N’ Forward.
Half way up the straight and Joe’s Giggle ($1.95-$1.75 fav.) looked as though he was going to win by the length of the airport straight, but he tiptoed in the final few metres and fell in to beat the well backed Looking Suave ($10-$6.50).
Belinda O’Loughlin was one of only two Mount Gambier trainers to have success at the meeting and had Loose Lip Lloyd primed for a big first-up effort in the 1200-metre 0-54 handicap.
Although Loose Lip Lloyd is somewhat of a Glenburnie specialist (three wins from seven starts prior to last week), he had done nothing at six previous fresh runs.
The heavy track was not a problem for him and the six-year-old gelding resumed from a six-month spell to give Tourneur the second leg of his winning double.
The trip home to Warrnambool was made even sweeter for Luke Williams when he also completed a winning double by taking out the final event for veteran Warrnambool trainer Ken Elford.
He threw caution to the wind by heading to the outside fence from the 400-metre mark on Thunderanlightning and it worked a charm.
KING OF THE DIRT
I have never seen a horse take to a dirt surface like the in-form galloper Shiny Rock has at Port Augusta.
Since arriving at the Murray Bridge stables of Garret Lynch in autumn this year from Victoria, Shiny Rock has, amazingly, raced every weekend since May 28 when he made his South Australian debut here at Glenburnie with a win on Millicent cup day as a $10 chance.
The four-year-old has had seven starts for five wins and two placings for Lynch, and is unbeaten from four starts at Port Augusta where those quartet of wins have all been with ridiculous ease.
His latest achievement was in last Sunday’s Port Augusta Cup and those punters who snapped up the $2 just prior to the race were laughing all the way to the bank.
Campbell Rawiller had his first ride on Shiny Rock and the gelding broke his opponent’s hearts by leading all the way to win with five lengths to spare and broke the track record.
If Shiny Rock could handle the dirt surface in Darwin, the much richer Darwin Cup in early August might be tempting for Lynch, but the gelding is probably in need of a much needed spell.
