A brilliant drive by Lisa Ryan saw in-form mare Alora win her third race from her past four starts at Globe Derby Park on Saturday.
Coming from gate five on the front row, Ryan had Alora away well and managed to drop into the perfect one-out, one-back position on settling down which proved crucial in her ultimate victory in the Jojubi Saddlery Pace (2230m).
The five-year-old mare, a drifter out to $3 from $2.05, sprinted sharply over the final 400 metres to race away to a comfortable 9-1/2 metre victory.
Heavily backed Sunstar ($2.20 fav) ran on well from the rear of the field to finish second, a half-head in front of That’s Art ($13).
Trainer Toby Ryan, from Roseworthy, said Alora had continued to step up to the tests she had been given.
Her next run will be another big challenge as the trainer has selected the time-honoured $9999 Norman Memorial (1800m) at Globe Derby Park on Saturday, May 3.
“We know it is going to be a tough contract,” Ryan said.
“There are a lot of good mares around and I think the Norman will have a lot of depth this year.
“But, she has earned a chance to tackle a feature race.”
Ryan revealed Alora had returned to his stable through the misfortune of Mount Gambier trainer Andrew Clarke who is also a part-owner.
“Andrew had an accident at the end of February, so we made rushed trip down to the Mount to pick up a couple of horses one of which was Alora, and the other was Aintsobad.”
Alora has won four of her seven starts since returning to Ryan’s stable while Aintsobad has run third in the Strathalbyn Cup, then second in the Port Pirie Cup.
Top concession driver Bernadette Page achieved a career milestone 100th driving win with her double.
Page, 24, was successful on Kahina for trainer Ray Holberton in the Happy Easter From SAHRC Pace (2230m) then scored on the classy Tembie for Port Pirie trainer Dale Afford in heat two the Ladbrokes 3YO & 4YO Series (1800m).
The talented young driver only had her first drive in 2022, notched 21 winners in 2023 then an excellent 63 in 2024.
Already this year, Page is up to 16 winners and sits ninth of the SA Driver’s premiership and is second on the Young Driver’s table.
Kahina was sensationally backed from as much as $11 into $3.30 favourite in her event.
The mare was perfectly placed three back in the running line on settling down before Page brought her with a brilliant sprint and the mare won by 1-1/2 metres from Summerdays ($6) with Roscos Rescue ($5.50), three metres away third.
Tembie came from gate six in his event and Page opted to go back early but as soon as the field settled down, she brought him forward to sit parked.
She then asked him to sprint coming off the back and Tembie drew clear to win by 8-1/2 metres from Splash Of Paynt ($4.80) with Lochinvar Camaro ($9.50).
Another to notch a personal milestone was Two Wells trainer Ryan Hryhorec.
Victory by Beach Hopper in the opening event the Adelaide Pacing Cup Saturday April 26 Pace was his 50th training victory for 2025.
Hryhorec went on to 51 with the win by talented trotter Used To Be A Maid in the Fast As The Wind @ Wingate Farm Trotters Mobile (2230m).
With less than four months of the season gone, Hryhorec is on track for at least 150 training wins and setting a record with the previous best being 118 by Jon Kingston-Mayne in the 2010/11 season.
Beach Hopper is part-owned by award-winning harness racing journalist and media identity Neale Donnelly.
Donnelly was one of Victoria’s top writers for many years while also delving into radio and television.
“Beach Hopper was formerly with Andy Gath,” Donnelly said.
“Ryan has trained horses for me previously and South Australia looked a suitable jurisdiction.
“Beach Hopper has won just over $10,000 in his two wins this month – he would have found it tough to do that in Victoria. South Australia’s increase in prizemoney makes it a state worth considering with our horses.”
Hryhorec said the six-year-old had been very consistent since coming into his stable.
“There have been little bits of improvement each time we take him to the track and no doubt tonight’s win was his best for the stable,” Hryhorec said.
A Victorian two-year-old stepped up as a top chance in this week’s $14,999 SA BOTRA Kindergarten Stakes (1800m) but it wasn’t the horse most punters expected.
Im Big Business, trained by Rosemarie Weidenbach at Wahring, led throughout in heat two of the Kindergarten Stakes (1800m) on Saturday.
The colt ran last at Melton earlier in the month on debut but controlled the race on Saturday from gate one and proved too good for red-hot favourite Open The Gates from the Emma Stewart stable.
Not completely discarded in betting, Im Big Business ($11) raced away from Open The Gates ($1.15 fav) to win by 22-1/2 metres with Bersagliere ($8.50), 12-1/2 metres away third.
