LOCALS threatened to take Sunday’s Swan Hill races apart, winning four of the first five races before finally letting someone else have a look in.
The day opened with Nathan Hobson landing a double as Nyah West rider Madison Lloyd took out the $27,000 bet365 Maiden Plate over 975m on It’s Maui’s Gold, with Echuca’s Rose Hammond right behind her on his Alesha Lily.
Lloyd then completed her own double taking out the next on the card – the $27,000 A Grade Sheds Maiden Plate over 1300m – for the stable of B, W & JD Hayes on Bravissima.
In the third the old firm of Coffey and Co – trainer Austy and rider Harry – united to win the $27,000 Elders Swan Hill Maiden Plate over 1600m with three-year-old gelding Koyuga Breeze in its third career start.
Austy Coffey was back in the fifth, this time with Thomas Doyle doing the steering, to see his 15/1 shot Masina do just enough to hold out son Harry, on Andrew Bobbin’s Chiq Magnet, with Nathan Hobson’s Don’t Tell Sheriff completing the placings – and in fourth was Sanctimonious, trained by Swan Hill’s Helen Burns.
That was it in the winners’ circle for the Swan Hill set, but Lloyd would ride placings in the last three of the day, including a third for Hobson in the final event.
However, after his horse It’s Maui’s Gold finally struck some of its own, Hobson unveiled a race strategy which will keep his stable on the go for the next month or two.
“He really deserved this one after running five seconds and a third in 10 career starts, so having one in the win slot is a fitting outcome,” Hobson said.
“It was a good strong ride by Madi (Lloyd) and to have the horse which also ran second helped make this milestone moment even better.
“Now he’s a winner I will have to look around for a suitable next start, and there will be options at Easter, with meetings at Kerang, Stawell and Warracknabeal – and the races are back here at Swan Hill on April 9, so he will almost certainly be a nomination there.”
With only 16 horses in work at the moment, Hobson is finding it hard to boost those numbers because of the lack of trackworkers in the region.
He said it was certainly making life “a bit quieter than normal” but he would keep battling to find some riders.
“We are also looking at taking Upper East Side to Bendigo on Thursday and will probably go to Horsham on Friday with a couple of others,” Hobson said.
“Yulong Storm is also close to returning from a spell and has run a couple of recent trials, which both went pretty well, so he might be headed to Flemington at Easter also, for a 1000m or 1100m.
“After that there might be a good run for him at Bendigo on its Golden Mile Day, setting him up for a shot at defending his $150,000 Golden Topaz at his home track in June at the cup carnival.”
