Meeting In Review 17 March 2023

Date: 20-Mar-2023

It was a sea of green at the Ipswich Turf Club on Friday as a good crowd gathered on track to celebrate St Patrick’s Day and enjoy a nine-race card.

While racegoers melted off the track with temperatures nudging 38 degrees celsius, the action was just as hot on the track.

Neasham and Loy Combine For Double

The Annabel Neasham stable and their regular rider Brodie Loy had the perfect day at Ipswich on Friday.

The duo combined with Birdonawing and Alamira. They were both Neasham and Loy’s only involvements at the meeting.

The first victory of their winning double came in race 2, the FOLLOW @IPSWICHTURFCLUB QTIS Three-Year-Old BENCHMARK 60 Handicap with Birdonawing.

Birdonawing was resuming after spending the past four months in the paddock. Ipswich has been a track she’s excelled at and that was certainly the case on Friday. After a good getaway, Loy eased out of the speed battle to settle fourth.

With 500m to go, Loy eased his mount out and worked forward to eyeball the leaders as they straightened for home. The daughter of Fastnet Rock let down well to take the lead and looked to race away with the win but condition gave out late with the final margin reduced to just a head by a fast-finishing Casrock.

While the margin was minimal, Birdonawing always had the 1350m race in her control.

The second of Neasham and Loy’s wins was a little more clearcut than Birdonawing’s. Altamira started a firm favourite at $1.60 in the WOUNDED HEROES AUSTRALIA Fillies and Mares Class 2 Handicap.

Like her stablemate, the three-year-old filly was having her first run back this preparation. While it was only a small field of six, Loy did extremely well to slot the filly in the second pair one off the fence.

Loy peeled off the leaders’ backs as they straightened and the Pride Of Dubai filly let down beautifully. The talented jockey rode her out hands and heels to win by just under a length.

The winning double took Neasham to second on this season’s Ipswich Trainers Premiership with 11 wins. The Eagle Farm stable is now just three wins behind Queensland’s top trainer Tony Gollan.

Loy also climbed the 2022/23 Ipswich Jockey Premiership with his two wins. While Jimmy Orman is a clear leader with 25 wins, Loy moved into equal second with Ben Thompson on 11 first place finishes.

Apprentice Bags A Double Of His Own

Not to be outdone by his more high-profile colleagues, apprentice jockey Jake Molloy registered two wins at Friday’s meeting of his own.

The Toowoomba-based hoop registered his first win aboard Regal Edition in THE BARN FAMILY RESTAURANT Colts, Geldings and Entires Class 2 Handicap.

Regal Edition didn’t show a great deal of gate speed and settled towards the back of the field in the 1100m contest. The 1.5kg claiming apprentice was happy to allow his mount, who is trained by his boss Lindsay Hatch, to find his rhythm and work at his own pace as they went a touch hard in front.

Molloy made his move prior to straightening, improving his position around the field. With the frontrunners tiring, the five-year-old gelding stormed home down the outside to get up in a photo finish.

Friday’s win started Regal Edition’s preparation in nice style and was his first at Ipswich in five attempts.

Molloy teamed up with another Toowoomba horse, Smokey Diamond, to complete his winning double. The grey stayer started as a $5 chance in the JESSIE BIRD MEMORIAL BENCHMARK 62 Handicap.

There was plenty of drama before the gates had even opened for the 1666m contest. Race favourite Zadig was a late scratching after he became fractious and cast in the gates. Another fancied runner, Aliraaj was also deemed a late scratching when it refused to load.

When the gates finally crashed back, Molloy used the inside gate to his advantage to settle in a fantastic position one-length behind the leader on the fence in third. There was little change in the order until Van Gogh, who was leading, shifted off the fence as they turned for home. Molloy didn’t have to be asked twice and drove through the gap to set sail for home. He was all out in the closing stages but had enough in the tank to win by a nose.

Molloy’s double took him to eight Ipswich wins for the season. He is just two wins behind Angela Jones in the Ipswich Apprentice Jockey Premiership and has made the race for the title interesting.

The Tale Of The Hot Pots and The Despised Outsider

Punters got their day off to a great start when the Brenton Andrew-trained Szabo saluted in the first race of the day. After her scintillating four-length victory on debut here in January, the two-year-old filly started a $1.40 favourite in the ST PATRICK DAY RACES QTIS Two-Year-Old Handicap.

Billie-Rose Andrew settled third the fence in the 800m scamper, enjoying a great run. She smoked her pipe and had a lapful of horse but appeared trapped on the fence. She got out with 100m to go and flashed to the line to win by just under half a length. There were a few nervous moments for those that took the short quote but the filly once clear the race was all but over.

The Les Ross-trained Mishani Sniper looked well placed in the TAB BENCHMARK 65 Handicap with the market supporting him as a $1.45 favourite.

With Queensland’s leading jockey Jimmy Orman in the saddle, Mishani Sniper flew out of the gates to lead the 1100m race. Orman dictated proceedings in front before dashing clear in the straight to win easily by 2.3 lengths. It was the most comprehensive victory of the day.

Punters were having a great time with four of the first five favourites winning. They soon came crashing back to Earth in race 6, BRAD CARR MEMORIAL Maiden Handicap.

The Barry Baldwin-trained The Girl’s Boy was having his second start after finishing over 14 lengths behind the winner on debut at Lismore. Admittedly it was a heavy surface, but the market did not like the three-year-old gelding’s chances. He blew from $41 out to $91 by the time they jumped and was the despised outsider of the field.

Jockey Tegan Harrison took advantage of her mount’s fast start and drove forward from the outside gate to sit outside the lead. My Day looked to skip clear as they straightened but The Girl’s Boy knuckled down and finished best in the final 100m to win by a head.

It was a great ride from Harrison to get the roughie home. It is doubtful he’ll start such a monstrous price again!

Ride Of The Day

There were several excellent rides on Friday, and I may be a touch biased with this selection.

Full disclosure, in last week’s meeting preview I tipped Down The Barrel at $13 in the final race of the day, the EASTER RACES 10 APRIL Class 4 Handicap. So understandably I was particularly taken with Luke Tarrant’s work in the irons to get the win.

Tarrant settled towards the back on the Ken Jones-trained galloper. As most of the field fanned on the turn, the talented hoop hugged the fence to make up many lengths and get on the leader’s back as they straightened. He wanted to get to the outside but was blocked so hooked back to the fence to charge to the line. Down The Barrel was all out on the line but Tarrant had got the most out of him to win by a nose.

It was an impressive display from Tarrant in his only ride of the day, but also from the horse who was jumping from a Class 1 to a Class 4.

By Craig Sheppard

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