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.
Chris Parnham’s four win haul at Ascot on Saturday was almost certainly Australia’s best riding performance numerically. At Rosehill Gardens James McDonald calmly snared a black type treble including the Gr 1 Coolmore Classic on Zougotcha.
Steve Hart recently caught up with Kerrin McEvoy who added another Gr 1 to his impressive CV by winning Saturday’s Randwick Guineas on Celestial Legend.
Jim Byrne’s recent absence from the Brisbane riding ranks hasn’t gone unnoticed. His many followers around Australia have wondered why the popular jockey hasn’t been seen since December 16th.
Tommy Berry’s post race interview on Sky Thoroughbred Central after Saturday’s Gimcrack Stakes tugged many a heartstring. The popular jockey had just won the Gr 3 two year old race on Manaal
Sydney’s famous Haymarket district was fairly buzzing on Saturday night when Brock Ryan and his partner Madison Waters joined an excited crowd at the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations.
Two aggressive rides brought Regan Bayliss a Gr 2 double at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday. His confidence was buoyed by the fact that he was riding two very fit horses in Nimalee and Surf Dancer
There were a number of classy riding displays at Saturday’s Eagle Farm meeting, none better than Larry Cassidy’s performance on the fashionably bred Tyresa in the two year old stakes race.
It was only a 900m Class 1 before a small crowd at Wellington in the central west on Saturday. To comeback jockey Kody Nestor it was at least the equal of a Wellington Boot in terms of sheer excitement.
Ashley Morgan was clearly stressed when he answered his mobile phone on Sunday morning. He was at Merriwa in the western Hunter region halfway into a four hour trip from Newcastle to the Wellington race meeting.
Several jockeys rode winning doubles on metropolitan tracks around Australia on Saturday while ever consistent Kayla Crowther notched a treble at the Morphettville meeting.
It was going to be an uncomplicated ride for Michael Cahill when he bounced out of the gates on $2.60 favourite Why We Drink in the opening race at the Sunny Coast meeting on Friday night.
Grant Buckley’s decision in the late 1990’s to concentrate exclusively on the provincial and country circuit has proven to be a runaway winner for the indefatigable jockey. His reasoning was simple.
“You can’t let the strength of the Sydney riding ranks play on your mind,” says popular jockey Sam Clipperton. “You’ve got to stay focused and bring your A game every time you go to the races.”
It’s not uncommon to see a winning jockey “pump the air” in the euphoria of victory, or shake his or her head when surprised by the dominance of a performance but at Kembla Grange on Saturday Blake Spriggs broke new ground.
