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Meeting In Review – Friday 21 March 2025 New
Date: 24-Mar-2025
Friday racing returned to Ipswich last week where apprentice Cobi Vitler was at the fore with a winning double.
The Englishman has been based in Toowoomba for the past few months and has shown a real liking for the Ipswich circuit with five wins from just seven rides.
Vitler kicked off his winning day on Friday in the Benchmark 65 Handicap over 1700m with The Catch.
The 3kg claimer settled in the last pair, happy to let things unfold in front of him.
The speed slackened at the 800m which allowed Vitler to progress forward around the outside to get within a few lengths of the lead when they entered the straight.
The Jeff Dunn-trained gelding let down powerfully to storm past his rivals for a 2.4 length win.
Vitler completed his double in the final race of the day when he teamed up with the Renita Beaton-trained Hollywood Epic.
Despite bringing good form including a last start maiden win, the son of Shamus Award drifted from $8.50 to $14.
Hollywood Epic jumped well from barrier 4 but with the three horses drawn to his inside pushing up inside him, Vitler elected to withdraw from the speed battle and take a sit.
Vitler got his mount to the outside approaching the run home and he did the rest, finishing off strongly to win by 1.6 lengths.
It was a good day out for the apprentices with the young hoops claiming four of the eight races, starting with Corey Sutherland in the opening race.
Sutherland piloted the Garnett Taylor-trained Bold Tee and used barrier 1 to advantage to drive hard early and lead the 800m Maiden.
The Under The Louvre gelding was challenged mid-straight but proved too strong, dashing clear late to win by 1.5 lengths.
Last season’s leading Ipswich apprentice Emily Lang added her name to the winners’ list when she scored with Window Tapper in the Fillies & Mares Benchmark 58 Handicap.
The Kevin Kemp-trained mare brought excellent form to the race including a last start win over 1200m here and punters acknowledged that, backing her into a $4.20 favourite.
Lang pushed hard early to take up the lead from barrier 2 before running them a long at a strong tempo.
The tactics worked well as she was able to burn all her rivals off except Yellowhammer who chased bravely but to no avail with Window Tapper hanging on for a head victory.
Angela Jones built on her lead in this season’s Ipswich Jockey premiership when she teamed up with the Tony Gollan-trained Spartus.
The Capitalist gelding was considered a ‘good thing’ in the 800m Maiden Plate, starting as a $1.45 favourite.
It was an easy watch for the thrill seekers who took the short quote as Jones went straight to the front and was never tested, cruising to a 2.8 length win.
Spartus’ win was Gollan’s 20th for the Ipswich season and almost doubled his lead over his nearest rival.
The William Kropp-trained Bilpa Morea prevented Kevin Kemp from training a double when Maddy Wishart got the best out of mount to run down Jorum in the Ratings Band 0-58 Handicap.
Other wins on the day included the Jack Bruce-trained La Fast Tycoon holding off the charging Caxton Lass in the Class 2 Handicap and Shabooh Shalaa for Caloundra trainer David Vandyke who was pushed out strongly by Noel Callow to win the 1700m Maiden Handicap.
Saturday racing returns to Ipswich this week on the 29th of March.
By Craig Sheppard
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