Cherry Mahoney
"Hold your horses" might well have been the catch-cry last Friday at Group One Feeds Paceway, the lead-up meeting to the 2017 Gold Crown Carnival which gets underway this Wednesday night.
Fields for Wednesday's Tiara heats were held back for five hours, to enable Jive Dancing and Anythings Possible to make their race debuts in race seven, and thus fulfil the requirement of having a race start prior to competing in the Tiara series.
Both made it around safely, Jive Dancing placing third after leading from the pole, and Anythings Possible finishing mid-field after trailing her fellow debutant.
Connections of both fillies would have been very appreciative of the HRNSW decision to delay the fields and give them the opportunity to take their place in the time-honoured series.
Jive Dancing goes round from gate six in heat two, where Now Eye See and Shes Sporty boast last-start wins, as does Major Occasion, which led throughout in the other 2YO event at Friday's meeting.
Anythings Possible comes out of gate five in heat three, where Riverina visitors Miss Elly May and Rockinfeellgood will be strongly fancied.
The earlier example of "hold your horses" last Friday came in the fourth , the colts/geldings division of the 3YO, where starter David Micallef was finally able to activate the "Go" light on take 4, after three false starts!
Always Rockin, which caused two false starts, was an automatic late scratching, while pole-marker Espyrante threw in another one for good measure.
Winner of the race Our Wall Street Wolf, the first leg of a winning double for Chris and Anthony Frisby, worked around the field to the death, then assumed the lead a lap out before holding his rivals at bay in the straight.
He's drawn outside gates in both his successful Aussie starts, and will have to contend with barrier eight again, in Wednesday's co-feature Rowleyalla Sprint.
Those three warm-up starts on Friday won't have done his fitness any harm, for his attempt at a winning hat-trick.
Steve and Amanda Turnbull had a good night at the office, with four training and three driving wins respectively.
Mitch Turnbull scored with unhoppled mare Sportygal in a fast-run C0/C1 first, then Amanda took the next two, with Cherry Mahoney in C2/C3 grade and Zaras Choice in the 3YO fillies, both over the longer trip, and she rounded out her hat-trick with debutant Royal Aurora in the seventh, the 2YO race which included those fillies mentioned earlier. Royal Aurora will line up again in Saturday's Gold Crown heats.
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Cherry Mahoney utilised her new-found gate speed to lead throughout, but her driver admitted to concern when the death-seating Alpha Styx began to drop off about 400 metres out, " because that meant I'd have to do a whole lot more myself. She's pretty lazy, and likes having a horse outside her to keep her mind on the job."
With plenty of Amanda vigour and encouragement, the four-year-old daughter of Breeders Challenge winner Bonnie Mahoney found plenty when challenged, scoring her eighth win and cracking $50K in stake-earnings.
Other winners on Friday were:
Im Cool Harry ( Pat McCarthy/ Angela Hedges) , all-the-way in fast-class, with speed on throughout and just a few metres separating the entire field, in the most competitive race of the meeting;
Volaticus (Ed Collins/ Trent Rue) , a relative long shot at $12.70 in C0 grade, and the beneficiary of a pearler of a drive from Rue, who found the fence from gate 10, then found his way off it around the turn for a barnstorming finish.
And now to the Crown, and the best 10 days in harness racing. Best wishes to the Bathurst club, and all the participants.
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