Local girl Sophie chalks up a double
IN A riding display that finally rewarded her talent, local jockey Sophie Logan produced a masterful performance on Sunday at Woolamai picnic races to land a winning double.
While it was the first time Logan had tasted victory on her home track this season from the two meetings to date, it was just a matter of time before she broke through and may prove a catalyst for future success.
Woolamai and District Racing Club secretary Bev Carmichael said, “The weather was ideal after the very hot Saturday and we were very pleased with the day even though the attendance was slightly down on previous years.”
“This was probably due to the fact it was a Sunday meeting and a lot of people were heading home after their holiday break and going back to work the next day,” Mrs Carmichael said.
“It was lovely to see a lot of families with children in the crowd. The children had a wonderful day of activities provided by Kelly Sports as part of the Kids Summer of Racing Program. They were also entertained by Pockets the Clown, face painting and the jumping castle.”
Club president Robert Carmichael said, “It was great to see so many families with the picnic rugs out and the Kelly Sports activities are proving exceedingly popular. Also local Bass Coast businesses are again supportive with sponsorship and all this sets up well for our next meeting.”
In mild conditions with the gentlest of ocean breezes present, conditions were tailor made for an afternoon at the races and the on track action didn’t disappoint. The opening event on the six race card saw the Cranbourne trained Mr Gogarty demolish his rivals by an ever increasing 12 length margin. Giving jockey Maddison Morris an armchair ride throughout, Mr Gogarty simply outstayed the rest of the field and a career over the jumps beckons for the seven year old.
Trainer Ray Caldwell was keen to point out the ability of his horse over hurdles and was adamant plans were afoot for this in the future.
Race two saw the first of Sophie Logan’s winning rides and was also an excellent result for the locals in the training ranks with Last One Laughing bringing up victory number four from just fourteen starts. The horse is trained at Corinella by Shae Eden, who is enjoying a superlative run with his charges of late. Recent wins at Moonee Valley and Flemington as well as the provincial tracks have again put the Eden stable in the spotlight, however Shae no doubt still derives great satisfaction from winning races at Woolamai. Last One Laughing was positioned well by Logan and proved too classy in the run to the post.
Race three went to Cranbourne trained four year old Mystyko, giving win number two to Sophie. In a polished riding display, the horse looked well balanced in the run and was given every chance of victory. Stride by stride Mystyko was able to gain the ascendancy over adversaries up the home straight and prevail in a tight finish. In racing or indeed most sports, when there is little separating competitors, tactical supremacy is at a premium and once again Logan has proven she can more than match it with her rivals in that department.
The fourth race on the card went to the Mornington trained My Running Mate, ridden by the picnic circuit’s leading jockey Courtney Pace. Racing just off the speed, My Running Mate rounded up the leaders with 100 metres to go and proved too classy for the rest of the field. Horses travel kindly for Pace and this race was no exception, with both horse and rider always looking to have rivals covered throughout.
Race five saw the Cranbourne trained Barley Mo break through for win number one, giving jockey Max Keenan his first win for the day. Keenan was able to take advantage of his horse being more seasoned than others in the field and rode with guile and experience to guide the mare home.
The day’s final event went to the Seymour trained La Rita, ridden by Reece Goodwin. The horse is proving a consistent money spinner for connections and was able to surge to victory in another competitive finish. With challengers coming thick and fast all the way up the straight, La Rita and Goodwin would not be denied and clung on to score a narrow victory.
The next race meeting at Woolamai will be held on Saturday, January 20, followed by our Cup meeting on February 10.
Race joy: a very happy jockey Sophie Logan comes into the mounting yard accompanied by the race steward after winning Race 2 at Woolamai on Sunday. Photo supplied by picnicbet.com
Short URL: /?p=23724
Posted by Sarah Vella on Jan 9 2018. Filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
