YES, it was another Coffey cup, but it came on a Sunday when Swan Hill trainers turned their home track advantage into an avalanche of wins – taking out five of the seven races on the card.
It was also a poignant afternoon when the Con Kelly-trained Jagged Edge won the $27,000 Arentz Electrical Handicap over 975m.
The horse is owned by Kelly and his wife Dianne, with two-thirds of its ownership held by their close friends and long-time owners Owen and Carolyn Connick.
Tragically Carolyn died on March 12 after contracting a serious bacterial infection during a visit to the Northern Territory.
Kelly said the two families have been racing partners, and friends, for more than 15 years and her shock death has devastated everyone who knew her.
“Owen and family were at the track today to watch the horse run, Carolyn would have been here as well, she loved racing, loved her horses and loved a day at the track,” Kelly said.
“Owen had his arms raised to the sky when Jagged Edge crossed the line, it was a very emotional moment for us all.
“The family has had so much support through all of this and plenty were there today to help them cope with the moment. It was very special in the memory of a very special woman who has been a significant part of all our lives.
“We were so glad our horse, her horse, was able to get up and win for Owen and the family today.”
The Swan Hill tsunami started from the first jump, when the Austy Coffey-trained Surfy Pete broke his maiden at his second start – coming back off a 20-week break.
Winning by just a short half head, Surfy Pete edged out debutant Clinqstar, ridden by Coffey’s son Harry.
Coffey senior said the three-year-old gelding had been showing good signs of improvement, so the win was hardly a surprise.
But for him, the big moment was the Pooles Accounting St Patricks Cup over 1600m, which saw his smart galloper Sports Idol, this time with Harry aboard, outsprint Dance Ready to take the title by a head.
“He has been running pretty well, and been thereabouts, and I really expected him to go very close today,” he said.
“Make no mistake though, he has been hard work to train and it’s taken me 20 starts to get the hang of him, so we’ll see how we go with him from here on – we might be able to look at something in our carnival down the track.”
The weekend’s other double act was Nathan Hobson – it’s just that he spread his wins across two days.
First was King of King at Balranald on Saturday, which was just one of the 10 horses he trucked up there on a stinking hot Saturday.
Bringing his stables back online after a solid Christmas/New Year break, Hobson said it takes a little while to get things going again, but the Saturday win was as good a start as any.
“I have a soft spot for Balranald, it’s where I won my first country cup – and I have three of those now, so I always try to get up there and support them,” Hobson said.
“King will be at Hillston in a fortnight and we will assess things after that run.”
Hobson also held high hopes for his first-up winner Chosen Venture, which dashed away with the $27,000 CAMR Plumbing Plate (975m) and left fellow Swan Hill trainer Jane Duncan’s Short and Stout in its third second in its third career start.
“I bought him online as a yearling and his mother has been a good producer,” he said.
“He has been working well and trialling well, and I might put him out now for a little freshener and bring him back for a BM64 over 1300m at the Swan Hill Cup carnival in a few months.
“The horse certainly pulled up well after today’s run so we will just bring him along at this stage of his career.”
Hobson was also looking forward to jump outs on Monday morning, when he was going to put his stable star Yulong Storm through his paces. If the horse performs well, he will most likely be entered for a start at Flemington on Saturday.
Heath Chalmers wrapped up the big day out for the locals when his five-year-old gelding Spirit de Lune hung on to win by a nose from the Hayes-trained Untamed Spirit – to break its maiden after 14 starts.
And Chalmers was the first to admit the win has been a long time coming.
“I’ve had him for the past 18 months, and in his first prep he had a couple of seconds and showed some promise,” he said.
“This time around he had a bit of a shocker at Bendigo a month ago, finishing 10th out of 13.
“But now I think we will space his races a bit as he will probably go to a 58 – it’s a little while away but if he’s still up come the carnival, we might give him a try there.”
