CHRISTMAS racing is ablaze around the state as many businesses, friends and family groups elect to have their end-of-year festive parties during a race fixture.
The Garry and Margaret McQuillan organised Tuncurry Forster Jockey Club was among these events last Monday with an excellent group of revellers enjoying racing, warm weather and festivities.
Newcastle based hoops Andrew Gibbons and apprentice Louise Day each rode a winning double being aboard the Jason Deamer trained Diamond Deluxe, and Miss Powerbelle, and I Am Awesome and Tycoon Street respectively.
Leading Newcastle trained Kris Lees prepared four of the seven winners Miss Powerbelle, Tycoon Street, Azarmin, and I Am Awesome. Her fourth win, I Am Awesome is raced by a group of owners including Arthur and Harry Mitchell (of Yarraman Park), retired hoop Hilton Cope, and the I Am Invincible mare’s breeder Jamie Middleton of Redbank North Stud, Harden.
There was much excitement when the second emergency - Danzibar Dancer, acquired a start and duly won the Rezzie Better Home Living Forster Four-Year-Old and Up Maiden Handicap.
“We just bought a nearby property today, and now we have won this race also,” said a happy Freda Louizos, wife of winning Gosford trainer Jim.
We just bought a nearby property today, and now we have won this race also.
- Freda Louizos
Ridden by Gosford based Jenny Duggan, Danzibar Dancer (by Maria’s Mon US imported sire Mint Lane) was cheered home by other part-owners Ray Keightley and John Morton of Salamander Bay.
Popular local galloper Arise Augustus also galloped between races and showed he is on his way back from injury and that – a fracture in a near-side fetlock joint, was over 12 months ago. An eight-year-old gelding (by Danehill’s Holy Roman Emperor), Arise Augustus has won 10 races.
Classy pair by Bon Hoffa
STAKES class is on the horizon for in-form Newcastle trained gelding Bon Amis, following his second successive Sydney win over 1100 metres at Rosehill last Saturday.
Bred by Graham Daley in western Sydney, the Jason Deamer prepared Bon Amis (which in French means good friends) has won six races had four seconds and earned over $300,000, a great return considering his Australian bred Group 1 sprinting sire Bon Hoffa stands at a fee of $7700.
Bon Hoffa who stands at John and Helen North’s Bowness Stud, Young, has now sired over 150 winners and up to Group 1 class for more than $10 million in progeny earnings. Noble Boy is another Bon Hoffa gelding who has been flying “up the charts” in recent weeks winning all his three career starts including a hotly contested TAB Highway Handicap at Rosehill. The four-year-old gelding has “jumped started” the training career of new Queanbeyan conditioner Todd Blowes who has only been training for the previous year.
Country racing to gain more prizemoney
WHILE Racing NSW announced last week of a new $7.5 million The Golden Eagle for a spring racing expansion (which I will outline in more detail shortly), prizemoney for Non-TAB and Country Sky 2 races conducted in regional and remote areas of NSW are set for a 25 per cent increase.
Racing NSW chairman Russell Balding announced that this increase will take effect on January 1. It will see an increase of $6000 to $8000 per race for country Non-TAB races and from $10,000 to $12,000 per race for the Country Sky 2 events.
“I am delighted that Racing NSW is able to fund these increases which will underpin community racing and ensure that all segments of Thoroughbred racing in NSW benefit from increases in our revenues,” Mr Balding said. “Racing is very important in these regional and remote areas and we want to ensure they are viable.”
