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Meeting In Review – Friday 2 August 2024
Date: 05-Aug-2024
Friday’s meeting saw the commencement of the 2024/25 racing season at Ipswich.
The spoils were shared amongst the jockeys and trainers with eight different riders and conditioners landing a winner each.
Punters were lured into a false sense of security when raging favourite So Bright (pictured) won the opening race of the day.
Despite not being seen publicly at the trials prior to his debut, the Michael Nolan-trained son of Spieth jumped at the prohibitive price of $1.45.
It was a case of ‘they knew’ as he let down powerfully under Angela Jones to salute in the 800m contest by 1.5 lengths.
While favourite backers got their day off to a flyer, it was completely different story in the next race when equal outsider, Bee Exact won for Toowoomba trainer Hannah Willis.
The four-year-old gelding finished powerfully despite being held up to win by just over half a length at the massive price of $41.
The result was such a shock that even Race Caller Jarrod Wessel didn’t expect to see the horse in the finish and called it by a rival’s name.
Zattastar returned to the winner’s stall for the first time since November last year when winning the Benchmark 58 Handicap over 1350m.
Just as the seven-year-old mare did in her November Ipswich win, she produced a powerful finish to get up in the shadows of the post to win by a neck.
She was able to run down Parues who gave a fantastic sight for jockey Taylor Marshall.
The talented hoop who should get more opportunities than he does made up for the tight loss by winning the final race of the day with Hallside Martini.
Trained by Deagon horseman Jason Edwards, the mare was well supported with her price dropping from $7.50 to $5.50.
Marshall provided a peach of a ride to save ground on the turn before letting his mount rip in the straight where she charged home to win by just over half a length.
Toowoomba horses ran well on the day combining for three victories with the most impressive of those coming from the lightly raced Shadow Power.
Having just his third race start, the Stephen Matthews-trained gelding looked like he was struggling to keep up on the turn, but nothing could have been further from the truth.
The son of Dundeel took some time to wind up but once he did, he savaged the line the final 100m to win by a neck.
Followers of our meeting tips would have been happy to see a nasty drift with Shadow Power’s starting price blowing out to $9.50.
Shadow Power looks like a horse to follow with his record no standing at two wins and a second from three starts.
Cody Collis has been riding in excellent form, particularly at Ipswich lately, and that continued at Friday’s meeting.
The apprentice jockey teamed up with the Matt Dunn-trained Majorelle in the Class 5 Handicap over 1200m.
The son of Zoustar was backed heavily late and he didn’t let his supporters down, cruising to a length win despite using a bit of petrol early.
Dawyn’s Choice continued her good record over the Ipswich 800m scamper with another win.
Despite being unwanted in betting as a $26 chance, the Greg Cornish-trained mare flew out of the outside barrier to lead all the way.
Local trainer Jesse Townsend came close to scoring himself a win when Crymenotears finished a head second in the Benchmark 60 Handicap over 1100m.
Under the guidance of former Ipswich premiership winning jockey Sam Collett, the six-year-old gave a big kick at the top of the straight.
While she fought bravely, she was picked off in the final stride by the Rob Heathcote-trained Helikedempretty.
Friday racing continues this week when we host our next meeting on the 9th of August.
By Craig Sheppard
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