It was a tsunami of Swan Hill success at Warracknabeal races on Tuesday, trainers and jockeys determined to make their mark after the meeting was diverted from their home track by the deluge.
Local riders won five of eight events on the card while trainers Heath Chalmers and Nathan Hobson chimed in with a win apiece.
In a meeting gutted by scratchings – not one race paid a third-place dividend because fields had been slashed from 113 acceptances to just 44 starters – Chalmers and Madison Lloyd made it clear from the get-go this was their meeting.
It capped off a hot run for Swan Hill stables – at the Balranald picnic races on the Saturday, trainers won five of the six on the card. Chalmers landed a double with Its Who I Am and Mallee Hammer, Hobson got one as well with Humpback and Sandhill while Helen Burns had success with Pure Indulgence.
On the Monday at Casterton, Harry Coffey continued his hot form with another double – the first with Adament from the Maher/Eustace stable and then Jet De Lune for Matt Laurie.
At Warracknabeal, the $27,000 We Thank Warrack Lions maiden over 1200m was the opening race and with the field whittled down to five, it could have been anyone’s race – but it was all Electric Impulse.
The local double act of Lloyd and Chalmers proved too much, and a clever ride by Lloyd saw her sweep by the gallant little mob of also-rans to hit the line full of running.
Chalmers said he got the horse for a good bunch of owners who had been with him for about eight years.
“Unfortunately, because of the floods, they couldn’t get here today, so they will be pretty disappointed,” Chalmers said.
“But it was lovely for the horse, we broke her in and educated her and she was a bit luckless at her last start.
“Today she had a bit of a tough run, though in the end she knocked on well and got the win.”
Lloyd was in no doubt the filly would run well from the second she was legged into the saddle.
She said she told Chalmers the horse “felt super” and had come a long way since her career debut over 1200m at Mildura on October 4.
Coffey took over next in the $27,000 Emmett’s Warracknabeal Branch over 1200m, riding three-year-old filly Valiancy in just her third start.
One of the bigger fields for the day – with six starters – Coffey had to go the long way to win on the heavily backed, odds-on favourite, sweeping wide on the turn and running down Rugerio on the line.
“We had a bit of good luck in running, getting the room to come out for the run home after she had travelled as though she was going to quicken, and I think she will benefit from a slightly harder deck,” he said.
“She travelled as though she was going to blow them away but when I asked, she didn’t find as much as expected and then got a little bit lost.
“The last 20m the other horse was coming and she sensed it and held on for the win, but I think she will go better on a soft five or good four.”
Two races later and Coffey was on the well-supported Salassi for Matthew Enright, which had jumped well and been taken straight to the front.
Coffey controlled the race from there, setting the pace for his horse before going for gold as the six horses straightened and headed for home.
“It probably helped that I had already had a ride on him as he is a just a bit awkward still, a big gangly character who sort of doesn’t know how to do everything yet,” he said.
It was a classy win off the back of a strategic ride and put an emphatic end to Salassi’s maiden career.
In the very next race Nathan Hobson and Shanae O’Meara joined forces with topweight Upswing – making the most of O’Meara’s penultimate win with a 4kg claim (and in a four-horse field).
With blinkers on and winkers off for the first time, Upswing took control as soon as they jumped, leading the other three Indian file down the back straight.
Coming around the bend and turn for home Upswing looked gone but O’Meara had a few tricks up her sleeve and she fought back against being overtaken before launching a make-or-break dash from the 200m, which seemed to catch the rest of the field unawares.
There was a bit of money for him just before they jumped and he ended up paying $5.50.
Hobson said the horse was making a big drop in class and was penalised for it with 64.5kg, which is why he went hunting O’Meara and her claim.
“It’s actually been a pretty hectic week, we had to move all our horses from my mum’s and dad’s property at Murrabit (because of the flooding risk) and we thank everyone who has our horses for their help,” he said.
“It’s also been pretty good having the non-TAB and once every year meetings and we have been fortunate to do well at a few of them.”
O’Meara only just returned to racing this week after recovering from yet another injury in her accident-plagued career.
“This win was really exciting, he travelled really well, but by the time we got to the top of the straight Harry got to me (on Category Five), but my boy toughed it out and we got the win,” she said.
Fellow apprentice Lloyd completed her double for the day with the McEvoy trained Strike Eagle in the $27,000 Harold Kemp over 1200m, taking over the running early and never headed.
“He’s quite a quick horse out of the gates and he travelled beautifully. We have been trying to get a bit of cover on him lately but he’s just the kind of horse that you got to let run,” Lloyd said.
“He’s got a bit of a smart kind of attitude on him and I would have been happy to sit outside Johnny Allen (Time Ruler) but he was just rolling along beautifully so I let him breathe and keep going.”
