by Terry Neil
DAVID Hewitt mightn’t have the numbers to challenge the domination of the Turnbull clan in the training and driving premierships at Bathurst but the Goulburn mentor is finishing the season in scintillating fashion with his juvenile runners.
He was successful in the final two races at last Wednesday’s Group One Feeds Paceway fixture – for the second week in a row – and trained the quinella in one of them, for good measure.
Both were two-year-old races, emphasising the strength of his juvenile team, and he will undoubtedly be looking forward to further successes with them in the new season that beckons.
The small field of just five runners didn’t lessen the interest and excitement of a desperately close finish to the colts and geldings division, where Hewitt elected to bring trailer Boyd Writer to the outside at the top of the lane to challenge the leader Lifes A Jungle, just as his stablemate Weona Luke came with a strong run out wider after enjoying the one-one sit throughout.
The three of them settled down for a real battle the length of the straight, with Boyd Writer winning the fight over his stablemate, not far ahead of the gallant Lifes A Jungle.
At just his second start, following a debut third at the track three weeks earlier, the Sportswriter gelding rated a commendable 1:57.3 for the sprint trip, earning high praise from his trainer-driver who indicated that he hadn’t asked him for much until quite recently.
“I think a lot of him,” was high praise indeed from the measured and normally understated Hewitt.
In the fillies division, he dictated terms with Modern Art daughter Madame Leza, easily holding off the death-seating Alex Pollizzi, and rating just a touch slower than his stablemate earlier, though the final half of 57.7s was better.
It was the third win in seven starts for the youngster, who will most likely have some time off now before taking on better races next season. That’s an easy decision for Hewitt, who co-owns the filly with his wife Maree.
This week’s duo, and Stone Cracker, a heat winner who placed fourth in the Gold Crown Final back in March, will give him a strong hand in the new season’s three-year-old events.
Amanda Turnbull might have the bigger team, but she is also coming home with a wet sail, scoring a training/driving treble, and filling the runner-up spot in a further three races , at Wednesday ‘s meeting.
She used the sprint lane to score a narrow win with Dream To Share NZ in C0/C1 grade and led throughout with Miss Vera Mac NZ in C2/C3 company, both of those in Menangle Country Series heats, and then led from mid-race with Our Apache Miss in a C0 sprint, to complete the hat-trick.
The last-named is a recent newcomer to her stable, and when offered the roan Operative daughter by Blake Micallef, she jumped at the opportunity, mainly because of that colour.
The “I love greys!” explanation will remind most people of Amanda Turnbull partnering one of her all-time favourites Im Blue Double Dee to a string of Cup wins en route to more than $200,000 in earnings.
No wonder she was sporting a big smile as she said it!
Her runners-up Sportygal (behind Casino Tommy, for Nathan Turnbull in C2-C4 class) and Hidden Courage ( to repeat winner Karloo Damajor, for John O’Shea in the fast-class) both sit just one win off the leaders in the Horse-of -the-Year and Juvenile Horse-of-the-Year titles, with just two meetings remaining this season.
Stephanie Burley, who scored her third Bathurst win with Our Emancipation NZ, leading and holding on in a desperate struggle with Quaint Glen in a conditioned class for mares, received the Drive-of-the-Night award from racecaller Anthony Manton.
Her Auckland-based parents, for whom she trains the Real Desire daughter, no doubt welcomed the win as a diversion from the week’s Kiwi-Aussie political crisis!
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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