Harry Coffey’s up to his old hat-trick hijinks again – this time landing a treble at Ballarat on Sunday.
Crowning a huge week for the Swan Hill hoop, starting on the previous Saturday in Geelong, with a runaway victory on Spalmer for the Hayes stable, in the $27,000 Armstrong Green Maiden Plate.
Then on the Wednesday at Sandown Hillside, he guided longshot Splash Back to victory in the $55,000 Evergreen Turf Handicap over 1400m.
Followed on Friday, when he schlepped it all the way to Horsham to win the $27,000 Happy 40th Gonzo Plate over 1200m with the McEvoy trained Dark Skies, having its first career race.
But hat-trick notwithstanding, it was Saturday at The Valley which would be the highlight as he waited until the final race on the card – the $130,000 Ladbroke It Handicap (1200m).
And while he was convinced his horse had the potential to go all the way, first he needed a start instead of being stuck in the emergency list.
It seems the punters agreed. Coffey’s horse Extratwo was already a near favourite before getting a start – and outright top pick at the time he crossed the line.
Extratwo also made it a pretty big night for trainer Ciaron Maher – it was the fourth win for his stables at the meeting.
“I’ve ridden for them for a long time, so it’s always special to get a good one from them and then deliver,” Coffey said.
“Ciaron told me he wanted me to be somewhere in third or fourth, which I managed to do, but I did have to clarify if that’s where he wanted me to stay or if he wanted me to go on and win,” he grinned.
“He said to me ‘I’m sure you’ll work it out’.”
And he did, turning it into a runaway win.
Then, just a day later, in classic Coffey understatement, the 28-year-old jockey agreed “yeah, it’s been a pretty good week”.
And for a rider who has become the master of the last-gasp win, often taking out photos by a lip, or nose on a good day, for the past week Coffey has been smashing fields and winning races by as much as six lengths.
“I had a good book going into Ballarat at the weekend and I was pretty hopeful I might be able to land one or two when I was looking ahead,” Coffey said.
“A lot of my rides were for the McEvoys, who are great supporters, so it was good to take out a couple for them.”
It started in the second of the day – the $27,000 Pipe Pro Directional Drilling Maiden Plate over 1000m – with three-year-old Miss Sunshine picking up the first win of her three-start career, by a lazy 2.5 lengths over the dash-for-the-cash distance.
Two races later, same trainers, different horse – and this time by a whopping six lengths – Coffey steered the almost unbackable Elphinstone to the first win in its seven-start career.
Then to mix it up, he saddled the Hayes’ trained Artistic Genius in the sixth of the day, giving it its second win in its four starts.
“That’s the first time I had ridden the Hayes horse, and it was a big win, but I really did like the one from the Saturday I rode at Geelong,” Coffey said.
“It was his first start, and after winning his trial in the lead-up it was no surprise to see him backed into odds on and then running away with it to win by 2.5 lengths. A very smart horse I would love to keep riding.”
But trebles, doubles, even singles, might be good, but only until your next ride. In between there are still the unseen hard yards of riding to be done, so Coffey put his latest hat-trick in his memory bank and Monday morning was up at the crack of dawn riding trials at Ballarat and was doing it all again at Bendigo this morning.
“Some weeks are busier than most but trials and jump outs are a great way to get a feel for horses you may not have ridden before,” he added.
Although it is still a few months away, the June Swan Hill cup carnival is already on Coffey’s mind as he will have three days of heavy demand on his home track.
“That’s always a big one for everyone connected to racing in town and I imagine I will be fairly flat out on those days,” Coffey said.
