Chase’s MIKE HILL highlights trainers who have celebrated multiple winners at meetings across the nation in the past week
TWO strong kennels at opposite ends of the country have been in a rich winning vein in the past nine days.
Leading Central Queensland trainer Ken Boody has produced two five-win hauls at successive Rockhampton meetings while picking up victories at Townsville and Albion Park and Tasmania’s Gary Johnson, who has a racing-breeding complex at Leith, on the outskirts of Devonport, has led in a combined total of 10 winners at three successive meetings at Launceston.
Boody, based at Dalma, west of Rockhampton, was successful with Atomic Len ($2.30), Sorrento Breeze ($4), San Marco ($1.80 fav), Pitter Patter ($2.60 fav) and Be The Beast ($1.75 fav) at Rocky last night (Tuesday night), while Johnson rugged up a four-win haul – Buckle Up Iveta ($4.80), Hardaway Brady ($7), Buckle Up Aria ($2.30) and Buckle Up Kenzie ($4.60) at Launceston on Monday night, equalling his effort of last week, and added a winning double at the Mowbray track yesterday.
Owner of Tasmanian Hall-of-Famer Buckle Up Wes, Johnson heads into tomorrow (Thursday) night’s heats of the Group 1 Hobart 1000 (461m) with high hopes.
He is the only trainer to have a runner in all seven heats of the rich $100,000-to-the-winner feature – a race not even the brilliant Buckle Up Wes could win.
Johnson had predicted a bright future for the son of Collision and Everlong Bale (Primo Uno-Shique Bale) after only his second race win back in May 2013.
But not even he could have anticipated the level of success that awaited his promising sprinter.
He had bred, reared and part broken-in the dog and believing in its potential decided to send ‘Wes’ to good friend and leading conditioner Ted Medhurst.
The black sprinter, inducted into the Tasmanian Hall of Fame in December, 2017, spent his entire racing career with the master Mangalore trainer and took his connections on one ‘hell of a journey’.
Buckle Up We retired from the track in early 2015 with a fabulous 53: 30-8-5 record and prizemoney just under $552,000 and victories in the G1 Australian Cup and Top Gun at The Meadows.
Meanwhile, Boody’s winning run has pushed him into eighth spot on the nation-wide trainers points table with an outstanding 214 wins for the year and prizemoney just under $600,000.
Another four trainers landed winning quartets at their ‘home’ tracks during the week.
Victorian Mark Giddings was successful with Phelan Seedy ($3), Invisible Light ($1.60 fav), Deadly Express ($5,20) and Shanlyn Bear ($3.20) at Traralgon, Tania Trappett landed her four – My Mate Cricket ($2.60 fav), Free To Dream ($6.50), Panama Skies ($2.25 fav) and Cold Justice ($7.50) – at Gunnedah, Tony Rasmussen continued his recent winning run with Victa Indi ($3.30), Express Black ($8.50), Jalapeno Jewel ($31) and Victa Grosso ($2.70) scoring at Murray Bridge and Rob Essex was on fire at Ipswich with Maywyn’s Luck ($12), Maywyn Kama ($5.50), Maywyn Ulysses ($19) and Armstrong ($3.20) all successful.
Trainers with winning trebles during the week included:
Victoria: Donna Knight (at Bendigo), Brad Keel (The Meadows), Mark Giddings (Geelong) and Mark Delbridge (Sandown Park).
NSW: Melanie Mabbott (Taree), Jason Magri (Wentworth Park), Clint Trengove (Broken Hill) and Dave Smith (Bulli).
Queensland: Evelyn Harris (Capalaba), Dallas Beckett (Rockhampton), Austin Dillon (Albion Park) and Cyndie Elson (Albion Park).
SA: Tony Hinrichsen (Gawler), Ben Rawlings (Gawler) and Dave Peckham (Murray Bridge).
Tasmania: Debbie Cannan (Hobart).
WA: James Jeffries (Mandurah) and Damien Crudeli (Mandurah).
