By David Gilbert
COULD it be a South East born-and-bred apprentice has a chance of winning a metropolitan jockey’s premiership this year?
We have just snuck passed the halfway mark of the 2023/24 racing season and our very own Jacob Opperman has leapfrogged into third position on the South Australian metropolitan premiership ladder following another double in town last Saturday at Morphettville.
With 20 wins thus far this season, the Mingbool youngster has only Jake Toeroek (24 wins) and Jason Holder (22) in front of him and he is only one win away from losing his metropolitan claiming allowance.
A mighty effort when you consider that Opperman is not the number one rider for any of the the top Adelaide trainers.
He is more of a freelance jockey and his main association is with the Gawler-based combination of Aaron Bain and Ned Taylor, who have trained eight city winners this season and are currently in seventh position.
Opperman did his image no harm whatsoever last Saturday with a rare ride – and winner – for the Richard and Chantelle Jolly stable (who are second on the ladder) aboard Kalasec.
His other winner earlier in the program was on Magnetic Edge for the Murray Bridge based pair of John Hickmott and Carrina Riggs.
The only other South East born-and-bred jockey to have won metropolitan premierships that I am aware of is the Wepar born Mick Medhurst who won around 10 Adelaide premierships nearly a century ago.
Opperman has acquired somewhat of a following in recent times, not only in this region but right around Australia.
Punters always have their favourite jockeys and the one always high up in the popularity stakes is William Pike in Western Australia.
People betting on races in the west invariably check to see what rides Pike has and he already has a mortgage on the Perth title this year, more than 20 winners clear of his nearest rival.
James “Jmac” McDonald in Sydney, along with Jamie Kah and Damien Lane in Melbourne, are also “pin-up” riders with a lot of punters.
One of the most popular jockeys in South Australian racing over the years was John Letts, who twice won a Melbourne Cup (Piping Lane and Beldale Ball).
Punters desperate to try and back a winner late in the day in Adelaide years ago invariably turned to Letts and there was a popular saying “when in doubt, back Letts in the last,” and he often delivered the goods.
I will never forget one day in the 1980’s when I was at Great Western races and Letts was aboard the Ezzy Thompson (Mount Gambier) trained Tearon in the final race at Victoria Park.
It seemed every punter on course at Great Western had backed Tearon to either get square or increase their winnings and an enormous roar went up each time racecaller Ray Fewings mentioned Tearon’s name in the final 600 metres.
The roar became deafening when Tearon (a $6 chance) hit the lead in the final 100 metres and raced clear to win well.
There were only two bookmakers betting on Adelaide races that day at Great Western and I immediately went and made sure I was near the front of the payout queue, as I figured there was every chance the bookie’s bag would be empty for those at the back of the line.
NEW VENUE FOR CALCUTTA
THE increasing popularity of the Naracoorte cup calcutta in the past two years has resulted in a change of venue this year.
Instead of at the racecourse, it will be back in town at the larger Naracoorte town hall on Saturday week (February 10) commencing at 6.30pm.
Cost is $60 per head and the guest speakers will be Terry MacAuliffe and Sam Hayes, who will take turns at interviewing each other in a light-hearted fashion.
The following day (Sunday, February 11) is Naracoorte cup day, with the 2000-metre feature race this year worth a record $40,000.
There will be the traditional fashions on the field, face paintings and a jumping castle, while food vendors from the Taste festival in Naracoorte the previous day have been invited to set up their stalls at the races.
SUCCESS IN THE WEST
THE locally owned pacer Jawsoflincoln has found a new home in Western Australia after knocking up winning races here in South Australia.
While in the hands of trainer Greg Scholefield at Naracoorte, Jawsoflincoln won 14 races in this state and is now in the care of Perth trainer Justin Prentice.
Prizemoney for harness racing in Western Australia is among the best offered in Australia and Jawsoflincoln has wasted no time in giving his local owners a quick, healthy return.
Last weekend at Gloucester Park in Perth, Jawsoflincoln was impressive at only his second start in the west by taking out the $50,000 Nights of Thunder final, returning a slick mile rate of 1.53.1.
Closer to home, two local stables had a reason to celebrate Australia Day at Stawell last Friday afternoon.
The Graeme Howard trained and Brent Howard driven Sunshinefromheaven ($7.50) was able to lead all the way in the NR 45 pace.
Just over three hours later, the David Drury trained The Notorious R B G, driven by James Henderson, made it three wins from her past four starts with an all-the-way win in the NR 52-59 pace.
The first of two meetings this month here at the Greenwald Paceway is scheduled for next Friday (February 9), followed by a Tuesday night meeting on February 27.
BROKE THE STRANGLEHOLD
IT took local trainer Vanessa Hutchinson to break the stranglehold on the string of wins by Victorian trained gallopers at Glenburnie on Wednesday.
The first three races were won by border hoppers until Dale’s Rocket led all the way to win the 1550-metre BM 58 handicap.
Dale’s Rocket was looked upon by punters as one of the best bets of the day following his excellent second in stronger company to Thrill Kill in the Coonawarra Cup at Penola on January 11.
The four kilogram claim for apprentice Beau Treloar was decisive when Dale’s Rocket ($2.50-$2.20 fav.) was on the verge of being challenged half way up the straight.
EXCELLENT CROWD SUPPORT
THE success of thoroughbred country cup days in Victoria continues unabated.
Back in late September the country cup circuit commenced and crowds have supported them to the hilt, especially the once-a-year meetings.
At Camperdown last Saturday week, 2,600 people rocked up, rather exceptional considering the population of the town is around 3,500.
Camperdown racecourse is renowned for having the friendliest flies in western Victoria due to its close proximity to dairy farms.
They were there in droves at the start of the meeting and fortunately a moderate breeze sprung up to clear the air.
Former Geelong AFL star Joel Sellwood proved to be an excellent ambassador for the Camperdown club and made himself accessible to people of all ages throughout the day.
Great Western had its annual meeting last Sunday and, unlike two years ago, it was relatively uneventful except for the late arrival of the club doctor.
On race day, when you park your vehicle in the public car park, you expect it to still be there – and intact – at the end of the day.
However in 2022, one car caught alight after race one and, with a moderate breeze blowing, it started a chain reaction resulting in around 20 vehicles going up in flames.
The fire then spread to the inside of the course and, understandably, the rest of the meeting was abandoned.
