24 October 2022 | Ashleigh Paikos
The $11,000 TABTouch Great Southern Districts Council Derby was the feature of the night at Narrogin on Saturday, with top spot going the way of the Ray Jones trained three-year-old Been Scootin. Bringing up his fifth win this season, the Bridgetown based horse has been racing in fantastic form this season, only failing to salute the judge twice in 13 starts since making his return in June this year.
Kyle Harper, who has driven the gelding for his last three starts took the drive again this week, with the win in race five giving Harper a double on the card.
Aldo Cortopassi reined and trained the winner in the first, with the $2.65 favourite Haywire starting from the widest barrier on the front line, he was able to work forward from release point to lead all the way over the 2242m, the three-year-old managed to kick away to win by a margin of 10.1m in 2:01:3, the geldings first win since September 2021.
Souffle NZ made it two in a row for Barry Howlett and Chris Lewis, with the short-priced favourite leading all the way in race two over the 2242m trip, recording a dominating win in 1:59:3, pulling away with a 22.7m margin.
Caribbean Lily NZ added some value for the punters, with the $9.50 shot coming from behind for trainer Justin Prentice and driver Cody Wallrodt. After starting on the backline over the 2242m journey, Wallrodt and the four-year-old settled three back on the pegs, with Wallrodt angling her three wide on the bend to come home to win by a head in 2:01:5.
The Terry Dymock trained Kolisi has had a good season at Narrogin this year, finishing in the top four in his last seven starts, and after knocking on the door at his previous two starts, he was able to get the win in race four for Kyle Harper in the cart. After sitting in the breeze throughout over the 2242m, the four-year-old proved too strong, staving off his rivals to win by a head in 2:02:6.
Wallrodt also walked away on Saturday night with a driving double, but this time with his own horse Under the Alta taking the win in race six, the second win for his connections since purchasing the four-year-old just five starts ago. Leading all the way, the $2.50 favourite never looked in danger, winning with a 2.1m margin in 2:00:1 over the 2242m trip.
Tracey Reay and Kyle Symington joined forces in race seven with Roman Reign, with the win a first for the nine-year-old in three and a half years. Transferring to Reay’s stable earlier this year, a last start fourth at Collie just six days prior saw the veteran start at $15 odds, but after settling mid field over the 2242m journey, Symington tracked into the race three wide with around 400m to go, going on to win by a neck in 2:03:3.
Two-year-old Seagrass broke her maiden status on Saturday night at her eighth start, giving Colin Brown and Trent Wheeler the win in the last on the card. After starting from barrier five over the 2242m journey, she settled in the one-out-two-back position and on the final turn, Wheeler tracked the favourite three wide, eventually going four wide themselves to win the closer by 2.2m in 2:03:9.
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