Lucky Knight for Green
Our Lucky Knight won his second race in a month, and his first win for new owners Phil Westbury and Kerry Green, in the www.atkinsphotography.com.au Pace on Saturday night at
Our Lucky Knight was officially purchased by Green and Westbury just after he won a heat of the Salisbury Cup on 23 July despite being trained by the Mallala-based Green since the end of April.
The five-year-old gelding subsequently ran fourth in the Salisbury Cup Final behind brilliant mare Larachelle, but has continued on in consistent form before being rewarded with last weekends victory.
The win was in part due to some luck and a patient drive from Kerry Green. Green went to the pegs at the first opportunity from a back row draw and got a dream run throughout. As Ryan Hryhorec on, Gunbarrel Straight, moved off the pegs in front of her just prior to the home turn Green was able to get through behind the leader with Our Lucky Knight and then urge the gelding along the sprint lane for a 2 metre victory.
Sergi In Control
Despite one half of the Golden Grove Maestros being overseas, the stable enjoyed a very successful weekend with three winners and two second placings including the welcome returns of a couple of top class horses.
While both stable stars, Conte De Cristo and The Upper Crust, started warm favourites in their respective events, neither was able to salute the judge. Instead the wins were left to the support cast of Safe Ridge, Johnny Doika and Assert.
Peter Sergi is in full control of the ship while Joe Carbone enjoys an overseas holiday and kicked off the weekend with the win of the Tony Calabria-driven Safe Ridge at Port Pirie on Friday night.
The success kept coming at
The Sergi double, and weekend treble, was completed when Assert also led all the way in the hands of Tony Calabria.
Conte De Cristo, in his first race start since the Mildura Cup in April, had to settle for equal third placing earlier in the night. The big pacer was forced to work three-wide, although with cover, for the final 1200 metres of the event but Fire And Brimstone was too good at the finish courtesy of a sweet run behind the leader. Conte De Cristo finished the race off well to dead-heat for third with Jaccka Lon, behind stablemate Dr Dre who had led throughout the race and held on for second.
The Upper Crust was rushed back for the Caltex-Bolivar Gramel Series earlier in the year but performed below his best and was given another short break from the track before returning last weekend where a text book drive from Ryan Hryhorec on Wrekognize cost him a first-up victory.
Off the backmark of 40 metres, Paul Cavallaro settled The Upper Crust towards the rear of the field before making his run at the bell. In what proved to be a race winning move, Hryhorec took the opportunity to come off the pegs and take a sit behind The Upper Crust over the final circuit before Wrekognize sprinted too sharply for The Upper Crust at the finish. The Sergi runner had to content with second placing but the run proved the talented young trotter will be back to his best very soon.
No Crown Glory for
South Australian horses performed respectably at
The Toby Ryan-trained Elysees Crest had the best result with a fifth behind Queenslander Fleur De Lil in the three-year-old fillies final. Elysees Crest drew barrier one but nearly threw that advantage away when galloping prior to the first dispatch but luckily a false start was declared. She did everything right the second time to hold the position behind the leader however couldn’t get enough momentum at the business end of the race and had to settle for fifth.
Later in the day, adopted local Lombo Limmo from the recently relocated Tony Pullicino camp, was a gallant sixth behind star Kiwi colt Changeover. Pullicino pushed his charge from the gate to lead the one-out line for a short time before handing it up. As every driver angled for a run in the home straight, Lombo Limmo was briefly held up for a run but finished off well to grab sixth spot just 11 metres from the winner.
South Australian-owned filly Celebrity Ball was a favoured runner in the two-year-old fillies consolation and showed great speed to lead and held that position for most of the event. However, having just her seventh lifetime start, she weakened over the concluding stages of the race to finish in seventh spot.
Fifty Gorillas was the fourth South Australian representative at the Breeders Crown Finals last Sunday when he competed in the three-year-old colts and gelding consolation. The Port Pirie trained pacer had little luck with a wide barrier draw and was forced to go back to the rear of the field. From that position he never threatened the leaders and finished sixth.
All the SA runners will now enjoy a well earned break before continuing their promising careers next season.
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HRSA Ltd
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