Driver Jack Trainor landed two Group One wins in half-an-hour at Tabcorp Park Menangle tonight. Photo by Club Menangle
JACK Trainor admitted he’d be waking up with a headache on Sunday morning after scoring his second Group 1 victory within an hour as he took out tonight’s $200,000 Group One NSW Oaks at Tabcorp Park Menangle.
The David Thorn trained filly Anntonia set a new world record for three-year-old girls with a two-metre win over Rogue Wave (Greg Sugars) and Beach Music (David Moran) in a 1:52.9 mile rate.
With the possible exception of Luke McCarthy, no-one has been driving with the consistency of Jack Trainor in recent months and his win with Anntonia had to be seen to be believed.
With the battle for early supremacy over the 2400m a hectic one, Trainor had to be content to settle three-back on the pegs and bide his time over the longer journey until they were turning for home.
Anntonia had to jag across the tails of a few tiring runners and once she did she knuckled down and quickly put paid to her rivals to add to a night that Trainor says he’ll “long remember”.
“This is what it’s all about, winning races like this just makes all the hard work worthwhile,” said the young reinsman, who made a big move from New Zealand to establish himself in Sydney and after working with leading horseman Blake Fitzpatrick for a couple of years decided to branch out and train on his own, sharing stables at the Menangle Training Centre with Jason Grimson.
“It’s a credit to the horse the way she finished this race off and got to the line so well, she is something special,” he said.
“I was putting her into gaps I wasn’t sure she’d want to go, but to her credit she never shirked the task.
“Winning the Ladyship Mile with Stylish Memphis was something special and now to win the Oaks with Anntonia . . . well, it just doesn’t get much better, does it?”
Yes, it does Jack, because Stylish Memphis has also been invited to compete in next week’s $1m Garrards Miracle Mile against some of the best pacers in Australasia.
“She deserves that. Wow, what a night,” said Trainor.
