Punters love omens – let’s be honest, we all do.
So if any football fans were hoping for some kind of sign ahead of Saturday’s grand final, they might have found inspiration at the Swan Hill races on Tuesday.
Where in the $27,000 Busbiz.net.au BM64 Swan Hill trainer Nathan Hobson landed the quinella – Chosen Venture came first and It’s Maui’s Gold was right behind in second.
All you could see as the duo hit the finish line was the dazzling red and white of Hobson’s racing colours.
Think about it – Sydney Swans, Swan Hill, Chosen Venture, red and white colours. Get it?
Hobson certainly had a grin on his face when his horses stormed to the lead in the run down their home straight – especially after the previous failures of Chosen Venture and extra especially after his disastrous run at the weekend when he took a big team to Pooncarie and came home with nothing but a big fuel bill.
“He was very disappointing in his last preparation, something must have been wrong with him because he is a better horse than that,” Hobson said post-race.
“Robbie (jockey Robert Beattie) came up and rode him Saturday morning, before we went to Pooncarie – and there was plenty of disappointment there too,” he laughs.
“Robbie loves this horse – and when we saw he was off his head out the back, we knew he was on – and it was good to have him back.
“And it was also good to see It’s Maui’s Gold have a bit of luck and he ran well too.”
Hobson agrees his horses “do seem to run well at home” before adding “but jeez, they really test your patience out at the back and sometimes it’s better when they have a trip away”.
“But it’s great for Robbie, he’s done a lot of work on this horse and it’s good that he can ride it today and get a win.”
Beattie, also back from a thankless day at Pooncarie, describes Chosen Venture as a horse with “a bit of ability”.
Adding Hobson and his team “have done a brilliant job with the horse”.
“In simple terms he would give a migraine a headache, but he goes alright,” Beattie explains.
“You just need to know he’s not going to buck you off out there once you’re on the track – he’s done it to me once and I ended up drinking out of a straw for a week,” he grins.
“His work on Saturday morning showed me he was close, but I thought he might still have needed the run, but in the end his ability overcame that.
“There were a few little issues with him last prep, and Nathan decided to turn him straight out and after giving him a good spell it’s proved now he was right.”
While Hobson may have landed a winner, the other homegrown success story of the day was a double in the $27,000 Pooles Accounts Plate over 1200m when the old firm of Coffey & Son took Wareo Road over the line for his maiden win.
Coffey senior says the four-year-old gelding has showed plenty of promise in its first six starts and finally it had all come together.
“Ric (race caller Ric McIntosh) tipped him this morning, so I didn’t know if we could win or not if Ric was on him,” Coffey said.
“But he fought on really gamely, and he probably knew where he was, and he has been a great beginner who probably hasn’t done a lot wrong but he’ still been getting beaten.”
“So I’m glad I can put him in the paddock now with a bit of wind behind him.”
Son Harry, who was handling the steering, agrees Wareo Road has been frustrating.
And said today was even better as he was stymied by a bit of an ordinary ride at his previous run.
“I don’t know who rode him,” Coffey grinned sheepishly, “but there were circumstances which didn’t go our way”.
“He’s been racing forward but just not finishing off the way he has been going at trials and gallops, so we just wanted to run him a bit quieter today,” he explains. “And yeah, of course, I got stuck behind them and couldn’t get out.
“Just today, at home, after he ran so well for Brad (jockey Brad Rawiller) here a little while ago by leading, we just wanted to take it all out and ride him where he’s happy, don’t push and don’t pull.
“And he landed outside the leader in a pretty low pressure event today, and was too good, but I think he will be better ridden with a bit of cover and better next preparation.
“I have to add this was probably not too bad of a training performance; because he has been ready for the paddock now for a while.”
