Hawk Horse. Summer Racing Heats Up. PolyTrack Work Begins. Made In China

Transcription

1 Hawk Horse H A W K E S B U R Y R A C E C L U B T H E S U M M E R PolyTrack Work Begins A B R I G H T F U T U R E O F T R A I N I N G A T H A W K E S B U R Y Summer Racing Heats Up F R O M C H R I S T M A S J I N G L E S T O A B A C K Y A R D B A S H Made In China T H E J O U R N E Y O F A P P R E N T I C E J O C K E Y Q I N Y O N G

2 welcome to summer... Here's the hotly anticipated second edition of Hawkesbury Race Club's seasonal newsletter - The Hawk Horse! ABOVE The Mitchell Kearney-trained STORM MASTER is hosed after winning at Hawkesbury on December 17 during the Christmas Party Race Days. BELOW GODUNOV, a classy colt trained by Gerald Ryan, enjoys a drink after winning on debut on December 17. The colt is potentially ATC Derby bound this Autumn. We received a fantastic response from our pilot issue in Spring and now proudly present more stories, function reports and glamorous shots from around our course. As expected, November exploded with Melbourne Cup fever and the focus of the global racing fraternity fell to the Australian industry - a fascination with the Spring Racing carnival that Hawkesbury warmly embraced! From Ladies Day to Australia Day, and with our exceptional PolyTrack now well under construction, our team will shift the focus to our feature meetings of the Autumn, the Provincial Championships Qualifier and Stand Alone Saturday. Stay Tuned!

3 ABOVE The field swings for home in the final race on January 24, the RAAF Richmond BM65. LETTER TO JULIETTE (yellow cap) was the resounding winner for Tye Angland and Garry White. EDITED BY Georgie Beresford THE CHIEF Greg Rudolph BUSINESS MANAGER Lea Porteous meet the team behind #TheHawkHorse CRUCIAL CONTRIBUTORS With grateful thanks to John Curtis Bradley Photographers Emmerge Photography Lisa Taylor & Alison Weir We'll admit it, we love sharing our racing and events with our followers! Snapping away on race day keep our three social media feeds filtered and festive - like the lovely Fashions on the Field winners from our Ladies Day pictured above! Make sure you are following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, using the #HawkesburyHorses - to share your own experiences on course - at the races, at a party, or at our fabulous motel! keep in touch...

4 Groundbreaking first steps down a new track The rejuvenated vision of the club to introduce a state of the art training track for Hawkesbury took the first step towards its realisation with works on the PolyTrack officially beginning before Christmas. An ordinarily warm morning in December saw the first dozers and construction vehicles from Abax Contracting roll in, who began the process of transforming the aged sand track, to the inside of the grass course proper used for racing, into an allweather surface of the future. Few walks of the track have been more exciting for veteran track manager Jeff Haynes and Chief Greg Rudolph than the first shoe prints that were embedded in the new sand in these past few months. The first truck crossed the course proper in early December and the workers were slick before the Christmas Break to ensure the preparation was well underway said Rudolph. The work soon recommenced into the New Year to maintain an expected completion in mid-april, before the club s signature Stand Alone Saturday race meeting on April 28. The latest works will focus on the existing sand track being widened, with fences now dismantled and the old sand being moved and stockpiled for alternative use on our existing sand circuits. ABOVE Abax Construction dozers and diggers are hard at work to remove the existing sand track on the inside of the course proper. From there, the drainage and base-layer works will be constructed and hopefully completed by mid-march.

5 A plan for the synthetic surface was submitted to Racing NSW ten years prior, with investigations into the suitability of both the Hawkesbury grounds and base material leading to the decision to construct a PolyTrack, a subsidiary of Martin Collins International, being reached in The Australian Turf Club has since installed a PolyTrack at the home of night racing, Canterbury Park, in anticipation of internationally-trained horses utilising the course for preparations when in quarantine for Sydney s leading race meetings, The Championships during the Autumn and The Everest during the Spring. It s bringing our Club into the next phase of development, being a significant investment and allowing us to further host horses from the leading metropolitan stables in providing a safe and flexible environment for training. CHIEF EXECUTIVE GREG RUDOLPH Yet domestic trainers have already firmly embraced the track for use all year round, regardless of carnival pressure. Feedback from leading trainers and jockeys has been exceptionally positive, and the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott team in particular have been impressed with how the surface handles the vigorous training regimes of the metropolitan area. The alliance with Abax Contracting, who prepared the PolyTrack in use at Godolphin s stunning Osbourne Park training base in Agnes Banks, has also created a new sponsorship opportunity for the Club. Abax will be sponsoring a race on another of our feature race days, the Provincial Championships, on March 10 said Rudolph. With the PolyTrack well on schedule, commitments to build 50 on-course stables will further enhance the club s commitment to providing outstanding training facilities fit for a Provincial Club of the future. ABOVE Trial runners cross the old sand track that will now become the wider PolyTrack circuit.

6 Ladies Day Blueties The might of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed's global racing operation Godolphin was in full force on Ladies Day, with head trainer James Cummings clinching a treble, including the $150,000 feature event. Cummings victory with Irish import Duca Valentinois in the Listed Lander Toyota Ladies Day Cup (1400m) followed earlier wins with dominant favourite Seine Net and another import, Beijing Board. Duca Valentinois, a 6YO gelding by Holy Roman Emperor, added a second stakes win and another 'cup' to his resume, following the 2017 Scone Cup. Jason Collett claimed another feature Hawkesbury success with a superb ride on the import, giving him time to settle and then bringing him from last approaching the home turn to burst between runners in the centre of the track. Collett partnered Fabrizio when he won the $200,000 Group 3 Livamol Hawkesbury Gold Cup (1600m) in April. Duca Valentinois ($5.50) powered home to beat $3.50 favorite Passage of Time and local mare Unequivocal ($31), who was placed in the race for the second year in a row, having been runner-up to stablemate Famous Seamus (now retired) in Jason Collett Despite the strong show of blue, Scott Singleton, Brad Widdup and Mitch Newman proudly flew the flag for the locals. Singleton bagged a double the first leg with a favorite and the other with a roughie and Widdup and Newman each chipped in with a victory. Duca Valentinois Singleton scored with Concessions ($2 favorite) and Poet s Advocate ($26), Widdup with second favorite Junglized ($2.40) and Newman with $17 chance Final Impulse.

7 Ladies Day The highlight of Hawkesbury's Spring was Lander Toyota Ladies Day, the gorgeously glamorous meeting held on Oaks Day in November. With an impressive haul of prizes on offer for Fashions on the Field Winners the Skin Fitness Fashions on the Field, including a Hamilton Island Getaway, men and women donned their best attire despite a warm day and guest judges surveyed over 20 heats to find their winners. WOMEN'S CONTEMPORARY (above, left to right) FIRST Kate Lynch SECOND Ursula Doolan THIRD Leanne Galea WOMEN'S CLASSIC (Below, left to right) FIRST Tanya Lazarou SECOND Stacey Roberts THIRD Alex Wilson BEST DRESSED MALE Neil Carpenter (left)

8 Cup Lunch Runneth Over It was the luck of the Irish that stole the nation s great race on the first Tuesday of November, and the joviality of the Emerald Isle was in full swing for the club s first Melbourne Cup Luncheon to celebrate a milestone for both Flemington and Hawkesbury. Over 150 people donned hats and suits in the Ted McCabe Function Centre, joining the nationwide hysteria of one of Australia s largest sporting events amongst the fitting scenery of the Hawkesbury course. Excess proceeds from the Cup sweeps were donated to Father Chris Riley s Youth Off The Streets foundation, who recently painted a stunning mural on course. The colourful design (pictured above) situated behind the Clarendon Brasserie, was a collaborative project completed by students from Father Riley s school who majored in art. With wait staff in jockey silks and tables named after past winners, the Cup was but one of the highlights of the afternoon, with a guest appearance from one of the all time great riders in Malcolm Johnston (pictured below) providing both critical insight into the Sport of Kings and as always, a well received dash of quirk. Supporting his cheshire cat grin and flawless wit, Johnston recalled the relationship with three-time Cox Plate immortal Kingston Town, fittingly just a week following the record-equalling feat of Australia s current darling of the turf, Winx. Naturally, the comparisons to Winx came fast, but Johnston maintained both horses deserved the praise of racing's critics as equally important thoroughbred idols. With a scramble of sweeps and tab tickets littering the tables the gruelling staying test at 3pm rewarded backers of Rekindling, trained by 24-year-old Joseph O Brien, with a hearty victory at the odds of 15/1. It was the sixth win in the race for millionaire owner Llyod Williams, who owned the quinella with a horse trained by Joseph's father Aidan, Johannes Vermeer, gapping the remainder of the field in second.

9 Made in China The expression on the young jockey s face was etched with excitement and relief as he guided his mount back into the enclosure after a low-key 800m trial at Hawkesbury. For Qin Yong, a native of China who had arrived in Australia just six months prior, the prospect of beginning his journey amongst Hawkesbury s humble fraternity of horseman was an occasion to behold. I was so excited leading up to this day, and just so grateful to everyone who has helped me get here he said following the trial. The politely spoken and fresh faced 28-year-old has been sponsored by the leading racing conglomerate, the China Horse Club, to begin riding in Australia following a short stint in Barbados in July last year. Yong enrolled in the Australian Racing and Equine Academy trackwork riding course under the watchful eye of Academy educators Tommy Peters and Tracey O Hara, based nearby in Richmond, and soon began riding work for leading trainer Brad Widdup. I m really enjoying my training here so far, he said. The teachers have been very helpful and I hope it will lead to me riding in races here in Australia. Tim Miller, manager at China Horse Club, has praised the enthusiasm of Yong and believes he will entice further interest from China amongst the booming relations between Australian and Chinese bloodstock enterprises. ABOVE Qin Yong returns to the mounting yard after his first trial on the Widdup-trained HANOVER SQUARE. Qin is our first and in the future we certainly hope to bring more Chinese participants over here to further their training and education, Miller said. And, not just jockeys, but other members of the industry such as veterinarians and other participants who would certainly benefit from our industry. He s a very confident rider and we know that he will do well, he really loves his training at Richmond and he is going through his gears pretty quickly." Yong exudes strength in the saddle yet reserves any praise of his blossoming riding career for those who train him. When eagerly watching the remaining trials from the stands on a late December morning, it was easy to see the young man had found his passion. Although there are thousands of words from the bottom of my heart, I just want to say four : Gratitude, Positivity, Realisation and Contribution. QIN YONG

10 Summer racing kicked off in style with two stirring Christmas Party Race Days during December giving local businesses, charities and organisations a platform to shake another year of work from the calendar. The halls were decked with bells and holly, Christmas trees donned lights and traditional roast turkeys, hams and crispy crackling overloaded guest s plates amongst the plethora of bon-bons and Christmas Cards. $500 Member s Draws, 'Golden Tickets' in race books and lucky losers betting ticket draws were highlights of a dual-weekend giveaway session rewarding regulars and newcomers to the course. On track, the seven races on each day were a successful hunting ground for local trainers, with Garry White, Jason Attard and Mitchell Kearney all featuring with winners on home turf. An emerging trainer within the Hawkesbury ranks, Kearney was quick to credit his wife Desiree with the win of Storm Master (pictured with Josh Parr) on the second of the Christmas Party Race Days. In a tough finish, the former Victorian four-year-old outgamed another Hawkesbury representative Legistation ($5) after the pair had the NewOz Concreting Benchmark 65 Handicap (1400m) to themselves all the way along the home straight. Our owners Peter Knight and Robyn Tatham gave us a commission to buy them a horse, and Desiree picked this bloke out at a Melbourne tried sale earlier in the year, Kearney explained. Summer Storm Warning He had been only lightly raced, and Desiree liked him when she saw him". A four-year-old son of Sydney Group 1 winner Master Of Design, Storm Master began his career with Caulfield trainer Andrew Noblet and, at his fifth start, won a Werribee Maiden Plate (1400m) on May 15.He was sold after failing at his next start on the Pakenham synthetic track 10 days later. Kearney and fellow Hawkesbury trainer Jamie Thomsen had just returned from a brief trip to Hong Kong for the International meeting, and said his wife and his brother Shane looked after the team whilst he was away. We have got eight horses in work at present, and Desiree and Shane did a great job working and looking after them. The Hawk Horse Spring 2018

11 Whitewash Garry White leaned casually onto the rail as he spoke to Ben Way from Sky Channel after the second race back at Hawkesbury in 2018, watching his hulking giant of a gelding, Dunatun, be led back by the pocket rocket apprentice Ashleigh Borg on tip-toes to reach his cheek strap - the first of a show stopping treble on the home track. White s long-standing owner, Hobartville Stud s Grahame Mapp, figured in both trebles. Mapp owned Colonel Light and also races two of the 2018 winners, Fifth Affair and Letter To Juliette (pictured above). As Corey Brown unsaddled, the leading Melbourne Cupwinning hoop flashed White a knowing grin that the veteran Hawkesbury trainer would be standing in the winner stall again that afternoon. Flanked by two of the gelding s owners, prominent Queensland Businessmen Russell Caporn and Jeff Bentley, White had four horses racing under his name that afternoon and had a sense of Deja Vu approaching. Nearly five and a half years before, on September , East Village, Boardwalk and Colonel Light all saluted at generous The pair is about to celebrate one of racing s most remarkable and enduring partnerships. Come March 3, I will have trained for Grahame for 40 years, said White, sipping a celebratory drink in the Winning Owner s bar post-race. It s been a lovely game of chess, he added. We ve got a nice team of young horses in the stable at present, so hopefully (the result) is going to be the start of a really good year. odds at Hawkesbury in a rare three-peat for a local trainer.

12 Track Talk GRASS IS GREENER FOR HAWKESBURY TRAINER MILLION DOLLAR BABY FOR WIDDUP + JADESKYE The team behind the Platinum Park juggernaut were among the astonishing show of buying power at the Magic Millions Yearling Sales on the Gold Coast in January, with Brad Widdup and Jadeskye Racing's Damion Flower purchasing a number of prized colts and fillies from the record breaking blue blooded selection. Among their purchases was the first foal of Group 1 Thousand Guineas winner Commanding Jewel, by boom stallion I Am Invincible, for a cool $1.45 Million. The colt, consigned by Vinery Stud, was joined by a further six horses for Widdup and Jadeskye - including progeny of champion stallions Sebring, More Than Ready, another I Am Invincible filly and two colts by Flower's own first season sire sensation Rubick. The yearlings will be visiting Platinum Park soon for educational visits and are likely to be aimed at the lucrative 2YO Classic in January following a similar path to Widdup & Jadeskye's 2018 runner Witherspoon. With #HawkesburyHorses racing throughout the Christmas and New Year period, and often travelling far to country tracks across NSW 7 days a week, it has been no surprise to see so many local trainers reaping the rewards of hard work. It was a trip to Bathurst that provided Peter Green with his first professional victory as a thoroughbred trainer. Green, well known in harness racing circles in NSW, Western Australia and New Zealand, won the Maiden Handicap (1300m) with Hard Spun gelding Respun. Green may be a newcomer to the thoroughbred training ranks, but he is an experienced horseman. He took out his standardbred trainer-driver s licence when he was 16, and had plenty of success in NSW and New Zealand before working as a harness steward in NSW and WA. Green took on training thoroughbreds toward the end of 2016, and his breakthrough win came at the annual Bong Bong Picnic meeting last November when successful with Prime Justice in a Class 1/Maiden Plate (2300m).

13 INGS FAMILY A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH There were celebrations all round when Hawkesbury four- year-old Whanau Force (pictured left) cracked it for his first win at Port Macquarie on January 13. Prepared by Wanda Ings and ridden by her apprentice daughter Chelsea, $13 chance Whanau Force outsped his rivals in the Maiden Plate (1206m) for colts, geldings and entires. Making the breakthrough all the more memorable was that Whanau Force was bred by a former member of Ings Hawkesbury team, Joel Elers, and he was broken in by her daughter. Joel was working for me at the time when he bought a mare (Frilly Milly), who was in foal to Oamaru Force (a former smart Melbourne sprinter who also won The Shorts on the Kensington track at Randwick in 2001), Wanda Ings explained this morning. Chelsea broke Whanau Force in, so it was a big thrill for her to then win on him yesterday. Joel is now a foreman for Peter and Paul Snowden at Randwick and it was lovely to win with this horse for Joel and his family. I train Whanau Force out of a paddock. He has a good yard with a shelter and, being a big bulky horse, seems to enjoy not being stabled. Meanwhile fellow Hawkesbury-trainer Richard Nutman kept the winnings in the THE NUTMAN KNACK family at Wyong earlier in January at Wyong, with lightly-raced Kathaire (pictured right) steamrolling her rivals in the Maiden Plate over 1200m. She was ridden by his daughter Claire and is raced by his parents W.J. (John) and Dell, who were both on course to celebrate the victory. John Nutman, a former long-serving director of Hawkesbury Race Club, was afforded life membership in 1996 for his outstanding contribution to the provincial club. To put the icing on the cake for the Nutman family, Claire s fiancé, jockey Chad Lever, made a successful return from a serious injury by winning the opening race at Wyong on odds-on favorite Auerbach.

14 FILLIES TO FOLLOW Known for handling a selection of the most expensive and regally-bred young horses in the country, Team Hawkes have often produced runners of the highest calibre for a "low-key" debut at Hawkesbury en route to bigger and better races. This trend continued when Hawkes presented Ballet Rose (left), a three-year-old daughter of champion stallion Exceed and Excel from the blue-hen mare Nureyev's Girl, for a dazzling first start performance. A $420,000 Inglis Easter purchase for Vinery Stud from the Bhima Thoroughbreds draft, Ballet Rose is a three-quarter sister to Group I winner King's Rose (now at stud in Japan) and Group II winner Hardham. She is the sixth winner from seven foals to race from stakes- placed Nureyev's Girl, who comes from the family of Group I winner Anabandana. Fellow Hawkes filly Tarabai (right, in yellow) made headlines at our January meeting with a hard-fought victory at her first start. The striking bay filly is the fourth foal of listed winner Baby Corn, making her a half-sister to the G1 Blue Diamond & ATC Sires' Produce Stakes placegetter Cornrow (by Duporth). Racing in the familiar colours of Laurel Oak Bloodstock, the filly was ridden by Brenton Avdulla, denying the Godolphin filly Eschara; herself a daughter of former gun 2YO filly Altar. Tarabai is by Darley's resident Golden Slipper winner Sepoy, who is starting to hit his straps having sired his first Group 1 winner this season with Alizee taking the Flight Stakes at Randwick. It may have taken Stella Victoria a little more time to break her maiden, yet the filly couldn't have been more impressive in weaving between runners to score over 1500m at start number eleven. A homebred for prominent breeders Wilf and Rosemary Mula, Stella Victoria is named after the couple's granddaughters who watched the race live from Brazil! Trained by David Payne, the daughter of Foxwedge settled at the rear of the field before unleashing a powerful burst of sustained speed to draw away for Adam Hyeronimus. Mula's distinctive Pink and Black spotted silks were made famous by Champion 3YO colt Flying Artie, along with stakes winners French Fern, Kentucky Miss and Dublin Lass.

15 PAT'S EXPRESS DELIVERY FOR DARBY Darby Racing may be gearing up for the return of their superstar filly She Will Reign this month, but the successful syndication team had reason to celebrate early with Postmaster General (pictured) burning the turf for a popular first up victory after 17 weeks in the paddock. Known affectionately as "Pat" after the children's character Postman Pat, the Mark Newnham-trained gelding was sent straight to the front by Josh Parr and easily accounted for his rivals, coasting home by two lengths in a slick time of 55.99s for the 1000m dash. "Pat" was one of two winners on January 24 for emerging trainer Mark Newnham, with Cyrus Rocks taking the opening event, also ridden by Josh Parr. Newnham has now trained five winners this season at Hawkesbury from limited runners, to be within the top five trainers among James Cummings, Team Hawkes and former master Gai Waterhouse.

16 Coming up... Saturday 10 March SPONSOR SWEEPSTAKES Thursday 5 April stand alone Saturday 28 April W W W. A W K E S B U R Y R A C E C L U B. O M. H C A B O O K N O W Racecourse Road - Clarendon admin@hawkraces.com U