Caption: Trainer Darren Sultana with his star straight-tracker Shall Not.
By GARY CLARK
STRAIGHT-track racing in NSW ended in 2010 with the closure of Appin, but the glory days of the ‘bullet-like’ racing returned to a famous venue in 2021.
In April that year Richmond opened a new straight track decades after the club’s former historic track closed.
One of racing’s leading race callers began his career at the track after responding to an advertisement from the Richmond race club.
The now-retired Ian Craig started his calling at Richmond. He also called the trots there.
The harness track was built over the straight track.
Richmond have conducted the finals of two NSW Straight Track Championships and in 2022 the national final.
Mr America, one of the best straight dogs in the country in modern times, won the national final for trainer Darren Sultana and owner Terry Hill.
In 2023 the pair had another outstanding chaser in Shall Not.
Shall Not has a near-perfect record at Richmond with 18 wins from 19 starts. The only loss was finishing second in last year’s state final.
The dog is on track for next month’s Richmond straight cup.
The $25,000-to-the-winner race was inaugurated in 2023 and won by Prince Creed for the late Paul Steedman.
Paul suddenly passed away just hours after the dog won a graded race at the track, 10 days before his cup win.
Sultana streamlined the training of Mr America and Shall Not after they both came from interstate. He kept their racing to the straight track.
At this stage Shall Not looks to have a tight hold on next month’s cup but there is sure to be some interstate interest.
Oscar Moses, who beat Shall Not in his only defeat, will be back to contest the cup on his home track for Jason Magri.
Another race in only its second year, the Group 3 Summer Six Hundred, will be run at Gosford next month over 603m, with $25,000 to the winner.
Last year Punter’s Bandit won the Six Hundred for the Lord kennel just a month after winning the Group 2 Gosford Cup.
It is likely Andy Lord will be looking at a second success in the race with several possibilities in the kennel including last year’s winner.
Both races will be run on Saturday February 3, Richmond in the morning and Gosford in a metropolitan meeting in the night.
