Swan Hill jockeys struck twice in the city in less than 24 hours at the weekend to show experienced or apprenticed bush jockeys mean business when they come to town.
In both races the old story about timing being everything in racing couldn’t have been truer – whether it was timing your run just right or just hanging on long enough.
First up was an unexpected win – in more ways than one – at Moonee Valley on Friday night for Harry Coffey.
In the $60,000 Inglis Pink Bonus Series over 3000m Coffey’s booked ride Look Sharpish was scratched, and out of the blue he picked up emergency runner (and 50/1 shot) Thistler for Kelvin Bourke. It squeezed into the starting line-up courtesy of four overall scratchings.
Then on Saturday, Madison Lloyd came out in the first of the 10-race Turnbull Stakes Day card on another roughie – the 15/1 shot Electric Impulse – in the $80,000 HQ Tavern Sprint down the straight 1200m.
A four-year-old with some noted speed in her kick, the mare may now be headed for the $500,000 Melbourne Cup Carnival Country Final on VRC Oaks Day on November 9, after four strong wins from her six career starts.
But trainer Henry Dwyer says she will need to win a heat for the Country Cup, most likely to be Geelong Cup Day on October 25.
“Maddie rode her beautifully as we had planned, to have her quietly sitting right back in the second half of the race, last or second last, blending in,” Dwyer said.
“Then she crept in on the back of one, and then crept in a bit further, and then used that good turn of foot and was really strong late.”
Late being the most extreme use of the word, coming from stone cold last on the course proper until Lloyd pushed the button marked “afterburner” and Electric Impulse swept right past everything and was still pulling away when they hit the line.
Lloyd also agreed about the horse’s enormous potential.
“She enjoys the soft track, like today, and I had walked it earlier and it felt pretty even to me,” she said.
“It was probably a little softer closer to the post but she relishes that sort of ground.”
Lloyd also recalled winning the horse’s maiden at Warracknabeal almost a year ago to the day.
“She’s improved a heap since then, and her maturity levels have gone through the roof in that time,” she added.
“So she has been a very hot little thing – although she has grown too.
“The only problem I saw going into today’s race was she was a little bit dull in the coat, but I was pretty confident her ability would push her over the line.”
Coffey ran his race in the completely opposite way – with a near Melbourne Cup distance to play with he got away quickly, stormed to the front and dared the rest of the runners to try and run him down.
Michael Dee on Field of Lights caught him but couldn’t hang on, then the favourite Wuddzz had a crack but Thistler had one last kick and it was just enough to hang on – by a nose.
Coffey said when he got on the horse they didn’t tie him down with instructions.
“Instead they said ‘a fella that works for us reckons you ride pretty well, so we’ll leave it up to you’,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.
“So when we jumped out of the gates I had plenty of time to think about what was actually going to be good, so I threw a cat amongst the pigeons (by taking over the running) and it came off.
“But in the yard I had looked at the horse and thought ‘wowee, you look pretty fit’ and I had watched his replays and he was pretty slow, so I guess we got it pretty well in between and made it a true staying contest and it worked.
“Kelvin will be proud about how it all worked out because he’s a jumps man at heart and that was a grinding contest, which is what we usually see over the sticks.”
But Coffey said the horse couldn’t have been any fitter, and the team at Bourke’s stables have done a great job preparing the fairly one-paced stayer.
“I enjoyed my post-race sip of water because it was hard work,” Coffee said.
“On the line I thought they had rolled me, but it was quite funny because on the top of the straight Mick Dee said to me ‘got ya Haz, nice try’.
“And then he goes to me two strides later ‘wow, I’ve got nothing’ which might have been a reflection of how slow we were going, because we had the time for a full-on conversation.
“But I think that’s what’s great about these staying races – things like that happen and can make it interesting.
“So while they might not be the fastest horses, it’s still not a bad spectacle.”
