There were 78,500 people at Flemington on Melbourne Cup day 1976. Those still living, hold indelible memories of their visit to the historic course on the day mother nature threw a tantrum.
March turned out to be a bittersweet month for Dubbo trainer Dar Lunn. His five wins for the month included the all important Country Championship Qualifier at Coonamble with Elson Boy.
Astute Wagga trainer Gary Colvin maintained his trademark strike rate throughout February posting four winners for the month. Dupride Star and Danny Beasley got the stable away to a good start with an Albury win on February 1st.
Trainers of horses who qualify early for the $1 million Country Championship Final are obviously relieved to get the hard part out of the way, but then they have to deal with a different kind of problem.
Respected Ballina trainer Stephen Lee landed two winning doubles in the final month of 2023. The first came at Ballina on December 4th when Cosmic Fortune (Adin Thompson) and Inlanda (Robbie Dolan) were successful.
The cut off point in determining the award is historically the last day of each month, but in David Blundell’s case we’re going to stretch it out by twenty four hours.
Sally Taylor has only twelve horses in work at Coffs Harbour, but managed to win four races during the month of August. Egotistic (Jon Grisedale) got the ball rolling on August 15th with a Ballina maiden win.
Todd Howlett ’s ability to find the right races for his horses paid off handsomely in the month of July. He travelled far and wide to land seven winners for the month beginning with the promising Tanglewood at Grafton on July 9th with Aaron Bullock in the saddle.
It’s been one heck of a season for Dubbo based Clint Lundholm. With just over two and a half weeks remaining in the 2022/2023 year, Clint is sitting in 8th spot on the NSW ladder with 71 wins and 113 placings including two dead heats.
Twenty seven year old Ethan Ensby continued on his winning way in April with three winners and six placings on northern tracks. This followed hot on the heels of his stunning performance in March when he landed six winners from just ten starters.
Donna Scott’s nine win haul for the month of December is an outstanding achievement for a stable of twenty five horses. Donna’s impressive tally included two doubles and a home track treble at Albury in the middle of the month.
It’s always a pleasure to send some of this high quality feed to bush horsemen. The November consignment goes to Blackall trainer David Rewald whose achievements in the month just gone attracted plenty of attention in regional Queensland.
Walcha trainer George Woodward clinched the May award with a stellar day at Glen Innes on May 7th. The 76 year old took eight horses to the meeting and came away with three winners, two seconds and one quinella.
The award goes to 34 year old Victorian trainer Ben Brisbourne who won four races for the month on four different tracks. Ben trains a small team at Wangaratta and doesn’t mind travelling his horses to find the right race.
Thirty one year old Stirling Osland was a regular visitor to the winner’s circle on NSW country tracks in the first month of the new year. He won six races which included two doubles, one at Armidale and the other at Inverell on Cup day.
