Meeting In Review 15 December 2022

Date: 16-Dec-2022

Christmas came early for punters at Thursday’s Ipswich Turf Club meeting with four short priced favourites saluting.

There was certainly a festive spirit on track just 10 days out from Christmas. Sky Thoroughbred Central presenter and form analyst Kiaarn Dickens supported this, commenting that it was up there as one of her most enjoyable days covering a race meeting.

Summer Snowzone In Ipswich

September 1, 1934 was the one and only previous instance of snow being recorded in Ipswich.

That was until today when the Kris Lees-trained Snowzone created a fresh batch of powder to win the KINGSLEY LAWSON LAWYERS OPEN Handicap.

The son of Snitzel jumped quickly with jockey Andrew Mallyon in the saddle. After travelling 400 metres in the 1200 metres contest, Mallyon found himself in a beautiful position just behind the leading duo.

Snowzone loomed up three-wide before his mount unleashed a powerful finish to run down a gallant Pivotal Motion and win by just under half a length.

The six-year-old gelding defied a market drift that saw the noted wet tracker go from $3 to $4.60 when the gates opened.

Mallyon shared the market's concern about Snowzone handling the Good track but those concerns were quickly allayed.

“Coming here today with the track firming up, there was a slight concern given his best runs have been on rain-affected going,” Mallyon said.

“But midrace I couldn’t have been more confident.

“He’s a quirky horse. You can tell when he’s going to run well.

“When he was in that nice spot, he switched off and he travelled nicely for me.

“I thought he was going to take a lot of beating.”

The talented hoop was full of praise for the Australian Bloodstock-owned galloper, pointing out that Snowzone did have to overcome some adversity in the run.

“I was always very confident,” Mallyon said.

“With the sixty (kilograms) I didn’t want to sit there and wait until the point of the bend.

“I wanted to get out and rolling a little bit.

“Just as I did, the horse outside the leader drifted off a couple.

“That probably added merit to the win as the leader skipped away from me while that one was wobbling in front.

“It carted me off the track a tad so he did well to reel it in with the weight especially on a firm deck.

“He did a really good job.”

Snowzone was Mallyon’s only ride at Ipswich on Thursday making the trip west a worthwhile experience.

Ghostwriter Sheds Bridesmaid Tag

Prior to Thursday’s DJ TRACKSIDE 14 JANUARY Colts, Geldings and Entires Class 1 Plate, Ghostwriter had just the one win and five second placings to his name from 13 starts.

The Annabel Neasham-trained four-year-old had earned a reputation as a horse that just couldn’t close the deal and convert his good runs to wins. A bridesmaid if you will.

The son of I Am Invincible went a long way to kicking that unwanted title to the curb when he emphatically won the 1525 metres race.

Punters honed in on Ghostwriter, thinking that the gelding could send them home a winner. He was backed into a prohibitive $1.45.

Ghostwriter was quick to leave the barriers but quite a number of horses pushed up on his inside which forced jockey Brodie Loy to settle slightly worse than midfield.

As the field packed up at the 600 metres mark, Loy improved his position on the outside. Ghostwriter swung four deep entering the straight to briefly level up before booting clear to dash away for a four-length win.

Loy rode Ghostwriter like the best horse in the race, stating that he was confident that his mount would have his rivals’ measure given how the race unfolded.

“We jumped really well,” Loy said.

“The speed was injected so I was happy to take the sit.

“We had a beautiful run in transit. Obviously, he’s a horse where he’s probably had his fair chances.

“But in saying that, he’s probably been a bit luckless in running whether he’s gone a bit too hard or got too far back.

“He’s a strange horse to ride but today I made sure I put him in at the right time.

“He had such an easy run that I knew he’d have a nice turn of foot and I thought that with the run in transit that he should be strong through the line.”

The popular jockey was aware of Ghostwriter’s penchant for finishing second but believes now he has the monkey off his back, more success can follow.

“He’ll gain confidence out of that for sure,” Loy said.

“He was obviously a really handy two-year-old and raced in some nice races.

“This will get his confidence back and credit must go to the owners.

“They’ve had a few seconds and they’ve been patient which is great to see.

“It was good to see him do it today (Thursday) and hopefully he can now go on with it.”

Loy rode a winning double at the meeting. In fact, the former New South Wales-based jockey who is loving life in Queensland only had the two rides.

Earlier in the day, he piloted the Steve O’Dea and Matt Hoysted-trained Merseyside to victory in the GREAT NORTHERN Fillies and Mares BENCHMARK 65 Handicap.

Centrestone Takes Centre Stage

The Chris Waller-trained mare had done very little in two starts in Sydney. On both occasions she finished towards the tail of the field.

As we’ve seen many times, a change of scenery with a move to Waller’s Gold Coast stable works wonders for a horse.

That’s exactly the case with Centrestone who wears the distinctive Star Thoroughbreds colours.

Following a nice trial win at Deagon last month, the daughter of Hinchinbrook resumed in Thursday’s THANKS TONY CLEMENTS FROM ITC Maiden Handicap over 1525m.

With Queensland’s top jockey Jimmy Orman on board, Centrestone settled at the back after drawing the outside gate. Orman smoked his pipe, allowing his mount to bowl along in a comfortable rhythm.

In a move made famous by Jimmy Byrne, Orman took off at the Great Northern sign to circle the field. Centrestone came four wide as they entered the straight. Within a heartbeat, she’d put her rivals away.

The heavily backed $1.45 favourite pulled away late to record an arrogant first-up win. The official margin was 2.3 lengths.

With the Queensland sun on her back, Centrestone will no doubt win more races.

Orman has now saluted the judge 18 times at Ipswich this season extending his lead in the 2022/23 premiership to 10.

Next Ipswich Meeting

We’ll host our second last race meeting of the year on Thursday, 22 December. Come join us and celebrate an early Christmas.

By Craig Sheppard

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