Meeting In Review 2 December 2022

Date: 05-Dec-2022

Friday race meetings at the Ipswich Turf Club are always well supported. That was certainly the case last Friday with enthusiastic racegoers and a number of Christmas parties ensuring an upbeat and festive vibe on track.

The outlook did not look good midweek with rain soaking the track. However, a good drying day and the recently renovated track demonstrating it’s in tip top order, saw the surface upgraded from a Heavy 9 at the start of the day to a Soft 6 by the last race.

Cartwright Claims A Winning Double

In recent weeks we have seen a number of jockeys and trainers bagging themselves winning doubles at Ipswich. Just last week there were three!

At Friday’s meeting the sole participant to record a double was jockey Georgie Cartwright.

The hoop with the infectious smile notched up her first win in race 2, the K&R PLUMBING SUPPLIES OPEN Handicap with Dragon Miss.

Cartwright made full use of the inside gate in the 1200m metres contest by bouncing out of the gates quickly to share the lead on the John Thomas-trained mare.

She was briefly challenged by Say Haya but had established a clear gap in front by the time they had run 400 metres. Cartwright left the fence entering the straight before dashing strongly to win by just under a length.

Dragon Miss saluted as a $2.20 favourite courtesy of a well rated front-running ride by Cartwright.

“It definitely takes luck out of the equation but she doesn’t have to lead,” Cartwright said.

“Watching some of her replays she has won from off the pace.

“The plan today (Friday) was to try and lead if we could but if something went mad, we were happy to take the sit.

“Luckily enough we were able to get there and get a nice rhythm.

“On the wet track it’s definitely an advantage to be on the pace.”

Cartwright has been building a nice association with Dragon Miss. One that she is keen to grow.

“I haven’t ridden a whole lot for John (Thomas) but I’ve had a couple of rides for him recently,” Cartwright revealed.

“I’ve always watched this horse and he’s said to me a few times that the owners really wanted to get me on this horse but I hadn’t been able to ride her until this prep.

“I rode her first-up at Eagle Farm and she went super. I’ve been lucky enough to stick with her and she’s just jumped out of the ground her last two starts.”

Cartwright brought up her second win of the day aboard the Lindsay Gough-trained The Power Of One in the SCHULZ'S WHOLESALE MEATS Class 1 Handicap.

The Power Of One is a recent addition to the Gough stable and was having his first start for the Eagle Farm trainer.

Prior to joining Gough, the six-year-old gelding had won just once in 25 starts. The talented horseman has the midas touch, turning The Power Of One’s fortunes around immediately.

Under Cartwright, The Power Of One flew out of the gates in the 800 metres scamper but couldn’t match motors with those on his inside and drifted back to fifth in the six horse field.

After briefly being held up in the straight, the son of Love Conquers All powered through a gap to race away for a half-length victory.

Cartwright’s two wins doubled her Ipswich tally for the season and catapulted her to equal fifth on the 2022/23 Ipswich Jockeys Premiership ladder.

Can Orman Be Caught?

Queensland’s leading jockey, Jimmy Orman, had a relatively quiet day by his standards at Ipswich on Friday.

The talented hoop came to the Bundamba circuit for just two rides. It should come as no surprise that Orman left with a win.

Orman teamed up with the Rex Lipp and Nick Hahn-trained Burnish Gold to win in the EDDIES CHRISTMAS QTIS Three-Year-Old Handicap.

The Defcon filly was only moderately away in the 1100 metres race but was able to easily find a spot just behind the leaders. Orman improved on the turn to sit on leader Dashing Gee Gee’s back.

They paired off straightening and dashed clear of the rest of the field. With 100 metres to go, the heavily backed favourite dropped Dashing Gee Gee and sprinted away to win by two-lengths.

The win took Orman’s Ipswich season tally to 16. He has double the wins of his nearest rival Ryan Maloney.

While we still have just over half the season to go, it would seem that Orman has an unassailable lead and looks likely to reclaim the title as Ipswich’s top jockey.

Capital Girl Blows Rivals Away

The Peter and Will Hulbert-trained Capital Girl had been knocking on the door for a win with a number of good recent performances.

Will, the younger half of the Hulbert training partnership, is known for giving 110% in all aspects of life and it would seem this mare has inherited that trait.

The four-year-old daughter of Capitalist drew the outside gate in the OSS Maiden Handicap over 1200 metres.

Capital Girl was the first to leave the gates but with plenty of speed drawn inside her, jockey Ryan Wiggins elected to settle towards the back.

Wiggins found himself three-wide but with cover. He started to improve his position on the turn but took off just prior to straightening.

In the blink of an eye, Capital Girl drew level with the leader as they headed for home.

Wiggins gave her full bore with a furlong to go and she exploded to race away for a 5.5 length victory.

It was quite the statement in breaking one’s maiden.

Capital Girl was well supported by the market, starting a $2.25 favourite.

Sitting three-wide in the run and still finishing so powerfully to win by such a large margin is no easy feat and that’s why this was clearly the best performance of the meeting.

Maxy Swings Into Action

Sky Thoroughbred Central Form Analyst Michael Maxworthy found himself having to call upon old skills in race 1 on Friday.

Maxworthy was a talented racecaller during his time in Singapore. He probably thought those days of calling the action were well and truly behind him.

Fortunately for Friday’s Sky audience, he hasn’t forgotten how it’s done.

For the first half of the opening event, the FOLLOW @IPSWICHTURFCLUB Maiden Handicap, audio issues prevented racecaller Jarrod Wessel being heard.

Maxworthy flawlessly swung into action to take up the call and do it all off a monitor!

Given the problems associated with the audio, it seems fitting that outsider Chayse ‘N’ Storms charged down the outside to cause a boilover result.

Next Ipswich Meeting

We’re on the quick back-up with the club hosting a provincial meeting on Wednesday.

By Craig Sheppard

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