Meeting In Review – Friday 27 December 2024 New

Date: 30-Dec-2024

We hosted our final meeting of 2024 on Friday at Ipswich where the theme of the day was winning doubles.

Mark Du Plessis was one of three jockeys and trainers to taste success twice with the first of his victories coming in the opening race of the day aboard Vermeer.

Aided by the inside gate, Du Plessis gave the Daiki Chujo-trained gelding the run of the race in the 2190m Benchmark 68 Handicap before getting the most out of his mount in the run home to fend off the late challenge by Classique Gal.

The 16x G1 winning jockey provided Kipling’s Journey with a perfect steer to land the Class 6 Handicap.

The Peter & Will Hulbert-trained gelding loves racing at Ipswich and especially so over 1350m and that was again on show Friday where he won his third race from four starts.

Du Plessis settled second in the run before pouncing when the leader weakened prior to straightening to hit the front.

From there, Kipling’s Journey proved too strong and won by 1.19 lengths.

Top bloke Du Plessis came close to making it a perfect three from three in the saddle but had to settle for second with Keep Safe in the Maiden Plate when no match for Pickabae.

The Matt Hoysted-trained Pickabae had trialed up well prior to her debut on Friday and was well supported by the market as a $1.65 favourite.

It was an easy watch for her supporters as she barely got out of second gear in winning the 1200m contest by just under two lengths.

The daughter of Capitalist is a horse to follow going forward.

Earlier in the day, Hoysted trained the first of his two winners in the QTIS Three-Year-Old Benchmark 65 Handicap.

Just like Pickabae, Hearts Are Better started a warm $1.50 favourite and got the job done.

Barrier 1 is a major benefit in 800m races and that was the case for the Better Than Ready filly who jumped straight to the front for Damien Thornton.

While she faced a strong challenge at the top of the straight from Bonfire Spark, she was too strong late and saluted by half a length.

Apprentice jockey Oliva Kendal has been riding in good form lately and that continued at Ipswich on Friday where she claimed a winning double.

The first of her wins came in the QTIS Two-Year-Old Handicap aboard Mishani Extreme.

After a quick getaway, Kendal was happy to three-deep outside the lead in the 800m scamper.

While the Donna Stanbridge-trained gelding was given no favour in the run, Kendal’s 3kg claim proved beneficial in the final furlong as he drove clear to win his first race by just under a length.

Kendal notched her second win in the final race of the day with the Matt Kropp-trained Vast Kama.

The seven-year-old gelding hadn’t won since March 2023, but he turned back the clock despite not having a great deal go his way.

After drawing the outside barrier in the 1350m contest, Kendal was unable to find a spot and raced three-wide the trip.

Despite that, Vast Kama produced a powerful finish to win by just under a length and defy his big starting price of $21.

Other winners on the day included red-hot favourite The Fixer for Jack Bruce and Jake Bayliss and the Rob Heathcote-trained Just Flying who was ridden by Jag Guthman-Chester.

We will host our first meeting of the new year this Saturday, January 4.

By Craig Sheppard

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