THIS week’s Swan Hill races turned into the Nathan Hobson show as the local trainer landed a winning double on a day which proved hard yakka for the rest of the home contingent.
Not even superstar jockey Harry Coffey – fresh from conquering the Caulfield Cup – could get one over the line.
But nothing was stopping Hobson and his horses – three-year-old gelding Reward The Sheriff breaking its maiden in the $27,000 Footts Swan Hill Demo Plate over 975m, and the promising but cantankerous Chosen Venture turned on a surging finish to take out the $27,000 McLardy McShane Insure Swan Hill Handicap over 1300m.
First up was Reward The Sheriff, with Logan McNeil in the saddle.
Having run and fourth and third in its first two starts, Hobson was confident his youngster would be thereabouts.
But when he saw his colours explode out of the gate and into the lead in the scamper for wannabe winners, he knew he was on a good thing.
As they straightened for home McNeil simply ran away from the field and had two lengths between him and the also rans when he hit the line.
“He’s still a bit new and green, which may have cost him not winning second up,” Hobson said.
“He’s trialled up well and we all have a better opinion of him at home, and he might be an even better horse next time in,” he said.
“Maddie (jockey Madison Lloyd) has trialled him a couple of times and she says he’s a really nice horse who just has to learn his craft.
“Now Logan has had a sit on him and done a good job as well.”
Hobson said it was very tempting to keep him going this prep and give him another spin around.
But said he was also prepared to wait and see what McNeil thought – and how the horse pulled up.
“I’d probably like to give him a run at our last Swan Hill meeting for the year, later this month,” he said.
McNeil agreed the horse has always shown a lot of talent at home, and said the Sheriff’s first two starts were good.
“He’s just slowly putting it all together, and that happened today, which is great,” he added.
“He has brilliant gate speed, and at the top of the straight I gave him a squeeze and he really let down, so it was good to see him do that today and gain some confidence.”
In the eighth of the day, it almost looked like déjà vu all over again as the Hobson colours hit the front early and the rest of the field was left straggling along in the dust.
Hobson said he had been disappointed in Chosen Venture’s previous start at Bendigo earlier in October and “thought he would have gone a lot better than he did”.
“So I was a little bit concerned coming in today,” he said.
He needn’t have been.
Although it was his other horse Crazy Sheriff leading the charge, once the pack straightened for the run home Chosen Venture got into the clear and stormed past his stablemate and headed for home.
“He’d had a couple of gallops on the grass and hadn’t been as good as what he could be, and I was just hoping back on his home track over 1300m, which Robbie Beattie told me he needed to step up to, that it would really suit him,” Hobson said.
“He clearly needed that step up in distance now, so kudos to Robbie for suggesting we make that step, and it was great for Robbie to be able to ride him and win at the distance,” he said.
“This horse nearly buried Robbie one morning but he has stuck with him and done a lot of work on him, I reckon without Robbie, Chosen Venture might never even have got to the races.
“I’m not sure where we will go next as his rating will probably get up a bit now, so I don’t really know what to do.”
Beattie agreed the horse had been a handful and very hard to deal with.
“He’s always been trouble, and Nathan and his whole staff have done a great job with the horse – because he has got a bit of ability,” Beattie added.
“He’s got affinity here at home, all his four wins have been here, and today I had planned on settling back a bit but there was no pace early, so I just started to roll up near the leaders and keep him out of trouble.
“Even in his last race the three top finishers have seen one go on to second in a listed event and the other two have both been winners, so it’s just great to win on the horse.
“At Bendigo I just had him off the bit too far out and he couldn’t get into a rhythm, and he still ran home in 33 something and didn’t lose any ground up the straight.
“He just needs that bit of time to settle and relax and he’ll be all right.”
