Meeting In Review 29 July 2022

Meeting In Review 29 July 2022

Date: 01-Aug-2022

Friday’s meeting saw the culmination of the 2021/22 Ipswich Turf Club racing season. A good crowd that included Queensland State Of Origin greats Allan Langer and Paul Vautin was on hand to enjoy the nine-race programme run under clear blue skies.

Before we get into the meeting highlights, we must congratulate our premiership winners for this season:

  • Leading trainer: Kelly Schweida
  • Leading jockey: Samantha Collett
  • Leading apprentice: Jasmine Cornish

Alfie In The Winner’s Circle

Ipswich’s favourite son, Allan ‘Alfie’ Langer, recently celebrated Queensland’s win in this year’s State Of Origin series. The Maroons great was again celebrating on Friday, this time after a horse he owns won the opening event at Ipswich.

To boost ownership within his stable, last year Eagle Farm trainer Chris Anderson brought in a trio of sporting legends that included Langer as owners.

One of the horses Langer is involved with Anderson in is Better Winsome who lined up in the Follow @ipswichturfclub QTIS Two-Year-Old Maiden Plate. Despite drawing barrier 13, the filly started equal favourite.

With Steph Thornton in the saddle, Better Winsome flew out of the gates to share the lead in the 800m scamper. The daughter of Better Than Ready responded to the urgings of Thornton in the closing stages to win by a narrow margin and pull the plunge off.

Langer has three horses with Anderson and was pleased to register his first win with the stable.

“I’ve got three at the moment with Chris but two of them haven’t started yet,” Langer said.

“We’re waiting for them to kick off but we’ve had a great win here.

“The Broncos are on the way up, Origin was wonderful….everyone’s winning at the moment.”

 

Tattletale Doesn’t Let Punters Down

Friday’s meeting was a tough day for punters but they were provided some joy early in proceedings thanks to the Matt Dunn-trained Tattletale.

The three-year-old filly was having her first start in The Barn Family Restaurant QTIS Three-Year-Old Maiden Handicap. It’s taken some time for the Spill The Beans daughter to get to the races, having had her first trial in September 2020. 

Despite that long build-up, punters rallied around the debutante backing her into $1.90 when the gates crashed back.

Barrier one is always an advantage but that’s never more apparent than in short course races. That was certainly the case here with talented hoop Brodie Loy driving forward from the inside gate to share the lead as they straightened for home.

Tattletale dug deep in the final furlong to fend off the challenge from Canny Be Better to win by just 0.2 of a length.

Dunn and her connections couldn’t have wished for a better start to the three-year-old’s career. No doubt there are more wins in store for Tattletale.

 

Mishani Fraudster Stamps City Credentials

An extended break has done Mishani Fraudster the world of good according to trainer Les Ross.

The four-year-old gelding returned to racing at the Sunshine Coast a few weeks ago with a win. He went back-to-back when he claimed Friday’s Strive To Be Kind Class 4 Handicap.

Apprentice Jasmine Cornish bounced out of the outside gate to take up the running in the 1200m assessment. After burning them early to find the front, Cornish hit the brakes to control proceedings. In true Ross fashion, Mishani Fraudster pulled out plenty to win narrowly.

Ross was confident heading into Friday’s race, believing that the son of Jet Spur who is his daughter’s favourite horse was Saturday quality.

“He’s a nice horse, he’s a town horse,” Ross said.

“Unfortunately he’s not a QTIS horse anymore so it’s easier to put him in his grade now.

“When they’re QTIS, we only put them in QTIS races which means he has to go in the big races.

“We thought we had lost him. He went sore in the hind leg and had ages off as we thought he did something bad to it. Thankfully it was only a stone bruise.

“We gave him a fair bit of time out and brought him back. He has a fair bit of confidence now.

“He certainly will head to town now….he’s a Saturday horse.”

The crafty horseman thought that he could pull the wool over the punters’ eyes.

“He really does need clipping but I thought if we left a bit of wool on him, we could get a better price. Unfortunately they saw through it,” Ross joked.

 

Dembe Gives Bubba Something To Crow About

Trainer Kelly Schweida was happy his horse Dembe won the Spartan Social Club Class 1 Handicap on Friday but was less than impressed that it meant he would be reminded of the victory from winning rider Les ‘Bubba’ Tilley.

Tilley put the foot to the floor when the gates opened to lead the 1200m race. He kicked clear by a couple of lengths as they straightened and while they closed on him late, he had the win in his keeping.

Schweida noted that the key to his win was returning to a dry track. Something that has evaded the son of Maurice for some time.

“He hates the wet so we’ve been holding off, holding off but we just had to give him the run somewhere,” Schweida said.

“It’s great that he won but it will be hard putting up with Bubba Tilley this week. Oh my god.

“Bubba rides him in work. He’s won on him pretty well here before.

“Dembe just doesn’t like the wet. He got a nice lead and gave a good kick.”

While Schweida was looking forward to hearing Tilley brag about his winning ride over the coming week, he acknowledged the larrikin jockey’s winning ride.

“Bubba summed the race up perfectly,” Schweida said.

“He said there was no speed in the race so he’d ping out and lead.

“He did his homework pretty well and he likes this horse.”

Dembe’s win was Schweida’s 16th for the season at Ipswich and locked up the 2021/22 trainer’s premiership for the stable.

 

Kappy Cino Causes Boilover

The majority of quaddie players would have been lamenting Toowoomba galloper Kappy Cino following the running of the Schweppes Benchmark 72 Handicap.

Coming off a fourth placing at Goondiwindi, few punters gave Kappy Cino a hope. The gelding drifted to $26 in the opening leg.

There was drama from the outset with one time race favourite Lemon Duchess rearing in the gates before Jasmine Cornish eased her mount out of the race as the field charged forward.

Apprentice Isabella Rabjones was unable to get Kappy Cino any closer than three-deep after drawing barrier 11. Despite the wide run, the veteran of 90 starts finished off powerfully to win by 1.3 lengths.

The win kept Kappy Cino’s perfect record intact at Ipswich. The Jackie Compton-trained eight-year-old is two from two over the course and distance.

“He seems to thrive on the bigger tracks,” Compton said.

“He won really well over 1350m here in a Country Heist.

“I wasn’t that confident today as it’s a step up in class coming here on a Friday but I wanted to go 1350m so we could go a mile in the Nanango Cup next week.

Compton who also strapped Kappy Cino on Friday praised the ride of Rabjones.

“She’s riding well,” Compton said.

“She’s won on him before and she gave him a beautiful ride.”

Sienna’s Award Turns Luck Around

Gold Coast trainer Harold Norman was left to lament what could have been for his mare Sienna’s Award last start at Eagle Farm. That certainly wasn’t the case at Ipswich on Friday when she won the Great Northern Benchmark 58 Handicap over 1350m.

The four-year-old mare finished a distant last at Eagle Farm two ago when she was caught wide the entire trip.

“She had no luck at all in town last start,” Norman said.

“Rikki (Jamieson) won a race for me down the Coast that day when Tegan rode her and she called me straight away. I said, ‘I heard you had a bit of luck down there because we had absolutely none here.’

“If you watch that Eagle Farm race, she just couldn’t get in.

“The horse has done a treat since. I thought she had a real big chance today (Friday).”

Norman’s confidence stemmed from the impressive second Sienna’s Award registered over this course and distance on June 30. A return to this standard of opposition also helped.

It looked like a case of deja vu as Sienna’s Award again got posted deep early. Jamieson settled towards the back before circling the field on the turn. Sienna’s Award was the widest runner entering the straight but still had plenty of work to do. She let down beautifully to win by 1.8 lengths.

“It didn’t look good with that draw today but she didn’t have that bad luck,” Norman said,

“I said to Rikki to come out pretty quick and work out where you can get the best you can. Sixteen runners in every race today makes it awkward.”

Sienna’s Award trimmed up last from $15 into $11. Norman commented that he had a ‘little bit’ of the price on offer.

 

Horse To Follow

Race 6 - Irish Homie: The English import was having his first start for Bevan Laming. He last raced at Newbury over 2012m  in September last year. Resuming after such a long break and over the unsuitable 1350m, it’s fair to say that the five-year-old would probably need the run. Tegan Harrison settled towards the tail before improving on the turn. Irish Homie was last with 250m but let down powerfully over the concluding stage to finish third by 1.4 lengths. He’s one to follow as he gets up to a more suitable trip.


Story: Craig Sheppard

Image: Trackside Photography

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