26 October 2021 | Darren Clayton
Catch up on the week’s harness racing action in our weekly review, thanks to Darren Clayton.
THE GOOD
Age is just a number.
That adage certainly rang true at Marburg on Sunday when a pair of experienced trainers with a combined 158 years between them both secured training victories.
Denis Smith started the meeting nicely when his square gaited mare was able to capture a rare feat with a victory against the pacers.
Although attempted infrequently from the mobile, the last time a trotter was able to beat the pacers in Queensland was back in June of 2014 when Justanothermaori won at Albion Park over the 2138 metre trip from the tapes.
Smith lined up Rosehill Magic in the opening event of the day at Marburg in a pacers mobile event where the seven-year-old mare drew gate one over 1850 metres.
When asked of his chances of his mare, Smith said “I told Mathew that I think she is a good chance to hold the lead and if you can hold the front try to put a gap in them”.
With Mathew Neilson taking the drive, he quickly had the mare burrowing through to protect the lead and kept the speed on early with a 29.9 second first quarter.
Neilson kept an even tempo and approaching the 400 metre point had pinched a break and was able to drive Rosehill Magic all the way to the wire to claim victory by 5.5 metres.
“I thought the main danger was Dallas Cowgirl but she was just too wide for too long and once that happened, you can never under-estimate luck” Smith explained.
Stopping the clock with a 2.02.3 mile-rate, not only had Rosehill Magic defeated the pacers, she was also able to smash the 1850 metre track record for trotters, slicing 2.6 seconds off the previous best held by Bourbonontherocks.
It was an even sweeter victory for Smith, who also owns the seven-year-old mare on lease.
“Getting that track record and with the job I think Ignite will do when he returns next season, that should give her some added stud value” Smith said of the mare.
Rosehill Magic was sent north by her breeder Terry Ryan, who Smith has never met but has nothing but high praise for.
“Terry is a first-class bloke and while I may have never met him in person, I have forged a good friendship with him after securing this mare and Ignite,” Smith said.
“Two of my most treasured moments in trotting have come this season with a horse that Terry gave me.”
That horse was Majestic Ess Jay with the trotter providing young driver Amanda Payne with her first win as a driver earlier this season.
The gelding was then able to claim the Graham Harriott Memorial at Marburg for Smith, a race that has a lot of meaning, named in honour of a good friend of Denis’ and former president of the Marburg Pacing Association.
This season has been one of the more successful seasons for the committed MPA volunteer, with the victory bringing up his tenth win this season.
THE BAD
Not allowing Denis Smith to claim the title of the oldest winning trainer on the day, the evergreen John Stariha landed a winner as an owner-trainer and driver in the sixth race of the day.
Two years the senior of Smith at age 80, John Stariha is currently having his best season in the bike for many years.
Despite claiming the victory aboard Golden Sand, the win was tarnished with Stariha falling foul of the stewards for the winning drive and was handed a 14-day suspension.
Rifling off the arm as the field was released, Stariha had Golden Sand in front as the field turned out of the back straight the first time, a position he would maintain through to the finish.
Having purchased the superbly bred but wayward gelding back in May, it has been a work in progress to extract the best from Golden Sand.
Such has been the effort required to straighten the manners of the six-year-old, Stariha has taken the gelding to the trials on seven occasions between his previous start and his winning outing on Sunday.
A half-sister of Golden Sand is Captains Queen, who will line up in the Group 1 NSW Breeders Challenge on Saturday, as the filly is a winner at six of her seven career starts.
Another half-sister, Soho Almasi, was a winner of the 2020 edition of the same race in a record breaking 1.51.8, which is a sizzling time for a two-year-old filly.
Following on from his all the way win with Golden Sand, just one race later, it was nearly a double for the octogenarian when taking Jay Tee Tyron to the front in race six and leading the field deep into the stretch.
Starting as equal favourite, Jay Tee Tyron was trying to fight off the challengers but had to settle for second as Tearaway Diamond proved too strong after sitting parked and prevailing with a 1.5-metre winning margin.
THE MILESTONE
Training a treble is always a great reward for the efforts of a stable and on Wednesday at Redcliffe it proved an added cause for celebration for Jack Butler.
Scoring victory in the opening race of the night, the win provided Butler with 100 training wins for the season.
Relocating to Queensland halfway through the 2014-15 season, Butler has been able to achieve 100 wins in every full season since taking up residence at his Logan Village stables.
After some consistent performances in recent weeks, the ton was realised when Bolta proved too strong for his opponents to claim his first victory since arriving in Queensland to join the Butler stable.
Not sitting idle after reaching the triple figures, just two races later, Chasing The Wind made it win 101 for the season when he too proved too classy for his rivals.
Driven by Chloe Butler, the four-year-old gelding was positioned outside the leader and cruised home to claim a smart victory.
Later in the night and a victory to Shes All Star made it a successful night for the stable, when she too proved too strong to hold on for victory by a neck margin.
The win of Shes All Star also gave Brendan Barnes a driving double for the night following his win aboard Bolta.
Wrapping up a successful week, Butler was able to land a training double on Friday.
The week of celebrations further enhanced with Jack celebrating his birthday on the day in winning style.
Despite the consistency in producing the big numbers, this season has no doubt been a highlight for Butler following his first Group 1 with Jeradas Delight during the Constellations Carnival.
THE WILDCARD
Leonard Cain finished the week in style when guiding home a driving treble at Marburg on Sunday.
After a lean stretch by his own performances of recent times, Cain was back at his best with the Sunday treble accompanied by a double at Albion Park on Friday.
On Friday, Cain’s first winner was via the passing lane when guiding Eh Ef El to victory for trainer Jack Butler with a sharp closing sprint.
Two races later it was a drive for Wayne Graham aboard Remember Me Now where Cain was able to rate the pace in front, spearing out from gate four and from the front was never headed in claiming victory by over five metres.
Heading to Marburg on Sunday with a strong book of drives on paper, it proved a successful day, but with a little more luck in running it could have been a monster day.
Along with his three winners, Cain placed on three occasions with a pair of seconds and a third.
Starting the winning run was victory aboard the Steve Towns trained Wheres Tascott, driving a patient race in behind the leader before angling to the outside and finishing best to defeat the early leader Living Free.
Cain’s second winner came aboard the Marburg track specialist Scheu Creek, the five-year-old claiming his fourth victory on the tight track this season, with Leonard taking the reins on each occasion.
Scheu Creek is trained by Ben Aldons for his parents, Dr Pat and Rhonda Aldons, with the gelding now a six-time winner at Marburg along with nine placings from 20 visits to the track.
The treble for Cain was completed in the last race of the day when guiding the Dudley Warburton trained Bukthsystem to victory.
Sitting three-wide for the last lap, the veteran gelding proved too strong under Cain’s urgings to hold on for a narrow victory over the fast-finishing Western Showgirl.
With 74 wins now to his name in the current season, Cain currently sits 11 wins adrift of his career high 85 wins, registered last term with two months left in season 2021.
THIS WEEK
There will be five race meetings in Queensland this week split across Albion Park and Redcliffe.
Ten races are set down for Tuesday afternoon at The Creek to complement the Friday night fixture and Saturday’s metropolitan card of racing.
Racing at Redcliffe will see 10 races held on Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon.
This week will likely be the final preparations for many as the Summer Carnival is ready to launch next week.
Nathan Dawson is currently on 198 wins for the season and looks set to reach the magical 200 driving wins for the season as he looks to set a new career PB and eclipse his 208 winners in the 2017-18 term.
Grant Dixon will also chase a milestone as he is just one win shy of 50 metropolitan training wins for the season.
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