Sport
19 January, 2024
Tight finishes at racing
The first meet of the year marks a huge 12 months for the Kilcoy Race Cub, with further upgrades set to enhance the already popular race meets.
Following the club’s first meet of the year, held last week, Kilcoy Race Club chairperson Con Searle said it was pleasing to see the large number of patrons attending the midweek races.
“It’s the amenities and closeness to the action that is a major drawcard,” he said.
Mr Searle said the track was in perfect condition, while a lot of trainers liked to race their horses on a soft ish track.
“We have spent a lot of money in upgrading our track, and further improvements are in the pipeline this year,” he said.
“Racing Queensland is installing a fully automatic track sprinkler system.
“Urban Utilities are installing a larger pump to accommodate further expansion of treated water to irrigate the track and grounds.
“As the automatic irrigation is being installed, the club will also be installing new drainage in certain areas of the track.
“The building of the new amenities, the purchase of additional land for the new 1200m start, and the assistance from the Somerset Regional Council has been a major catalyst to the success of the Kilcoy Race Club.”
Last Thursday, Toowoomba trainer Lindsay Hatch was the only trainer or jockey to have more than one win at the Kilcoy Race Club’s first meet of the year.
Hatch’s glory occurred in the sixth and seventh races, while Justin Huxtable and Jake Molloy were the successful jockeys.
Of the eight races, three were won by the favourite while four were won by the second favourite, as winning trainers came from Toowoomba, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, and Lockyer.
The biggest surprise was in the first race, which was won by one of the equal-fifth favourites and was one of three races won by the small margin of half a length.
Race one was 1500m, with the Ryan Tyrell-trained and Dale Smith-ridden Dance Babe gaining an early lead and maintaining it while the favourite placed fifth in a field of 11.
Races two and three were 800m, with the second favourite winning by 1.8 lengths in a field of 10 before the favourite won by a huge margin of 5.3 lengths in a field of eight.
The Matt Kropp-trained and Jason Taylor-ridden Miss De Blaas won the first of the 800m races, before the Kris Lees-trained and Wanderson D’Avila-ridden Yamabushi won the next race.
Race four was the longest, with the favourite winning the 1900m event by 3.3 lengths in a field of nine.
Prospettiva (NZ) was the winning horse, trained by Paul Jenkins and ridden by Samantha Collett.
The next three races were 1200m, with the second favourite winning in a field of 12 on the first two occasions before the favourite prevailed in a field of 10 on the third occasion.
In the fifth race of the day, the Paula Barron-trained and Elione Chaves-ridden Constant Café won by one length.
In the next race, the Hatch-trained and Huxtable-ridden Dragon Pins won by half a length. With two races remaining, the track was upgraded from a Soft 7 to a Soft 6.
The Hatch-trained and Molloy-ridden King Kong Cruz won the last of the 1200m races by 4.8 lengths, before the final race was 1500m.
The second favourite in a field of 12, the Greg Wright-trained and Sariah Champkin-ridden Alert And Ready appeared a little too far behind for much of the race before winning by half a length.
