Champion driver Pete McMullen scored a treble of wins at Albion Park yesterday but his performance was overshadowed by his younger sister Narissa reaching the 100 win milestone for a second consecutive season.
Pete steered a race to race trotting double on Thumbs Up Jerry and Ode to Success then won the Rising Stars Championship Heat on Floyd Mayweather while Narissa saved the best for last and took family bragging rights, taking out the meeting closer on her father John’s horse Blessed Is The Boy.
Making a one act affair of the Virginia Pace Mile (1660m), Blissful Hall five-year-old gelding Blessed Is The Boy scored by 7.4 metres from Chevals Diamond and Smiling High. It was the 10th career win for Blessed Is The Boy and career best mile in 1.58.4.
Narissa was at her brilliant best and displayed the top form that she has shown also season with a tremendous strike rate over the last 12 months. Her strike is particularly impressive when the win and place form are considered together. Narissa has had 867 drives winning 100 races, placing 209 times and finishing fourth 96 times which means that she was a top four finisher 47% of the time and has a UDRS of 0.2231, her best in five seasons of race driving.
20-year-old Narissa’s total stakes winnings so far for 2014/15 are $650,562.
Last season Narissa drove 139 winners from 1064 drives and failed by just four wins to reach the ton in 2012/13.
Narissa joins Shane Graham (249 wins), Grant Dixon (213 wins), Pete McMullen (170 wins) and Gary Whittaker (106 wins) as the only Queenslanders to reach the century of driving victories this season. She is also the State’s number one female driver, ranks fifth on the overall state premiership, fourth on the state’s metropolitan premiership and first on the state concession driver’s premiership.
In another high point for the year, Narissa also won a half share in the Leigh Plunkett Foundation Scholarship. She dead-heated for the award with NSW’s Robbie Morris.
For her share of the prize Narissa received a $10,000 travel study voucher. Narissa is also a contender for Queensland’s 2015 Centenary Classic Mercedes Benz Young Achiever Award winning a monthly nomination in October last year.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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