THE Cranbourne training partnership of Lloyd Kennewell and Lucy Yeomans made the long trek to the district worthwhile, achieving a winning double at the bet365 Mildura race meeting on Monday.
The partnership which was formed this racing season has already achieved plenty of success and it continued on at Mildura with Celebration and You Oughta Know, who were both ridden to victory by in-form Swan Hill jockey Harry Coffey.
Coffey was successful with Celebration in the opening event on the program, the Mildura & District Real Estate Maiden Plate, to bring up the first career win for the three-year-old filly at her fifth race start.
“She has been racing well this preparation and she will get a lot of confidence from the win,” Coffey said.
The stable mate You Oughta Know is also a lightly raced filly and she was also well ridden by Coffey to record a smart victory. The youngster is well-bred, being by the ill-fated stallion Lonhro and a half-sister to the smart galloper Tuvalu (eight wins and $1.8 million in prizemoney).
“She had a good run on the fence behind the leader and relaxed nicely and was very strong to the line,” Coffey said.
“She has good bloodlines and the plan is for her to go to the National Broodmare sale at the Gold Coast.”
The third winner on the program for Coffey was achieved with Coronation Drive for the Ballarat stable of Tony and Calvin McEvoy.
Coronation Drive had an unsuccessful debut at Sandown on April 10 when the race was not run to suit, despite being the favoured runner in the race.
However, the race at Mildura was a lot more to his liking and he settled on the speed before proving too classy for his rivals to win the Nick Burke Plumbing Maiden Plate.
“He had a better run this time sitting up outside of the leader and although he is still learning, he achieved what we wanted and he got the job done,” Tony McEvoy said.
“I think he is a city-class horse.”
Coffey was thrilled to continue his recent run of success and to take the honours at the meeting with a winning treble.
“Mildura has been a happy hunting ground for me and the track was in pristine condition,” Coffey said.
Plumpton trainer Patrick Payne and stable jockey Billy Egan combined to record a winning double with the impressive gallopers Go Atti Go and Zambezi Khan.
Go Atti Go settled well back in the field in a three-wide position, so it was a big effort to win at his race track debut by a 1.25-length margin and he has a bright future in front of him.
The former New Zealander Zambezi Khan has only recently transferred into the care of Payne and she is going to be a handy acquisition for the stable, after recording her third win at her 10th race start in the Blagus Electrical BM58 Handicap.
“She jumped so well that I was happy to take up the lead and she did it easily from then on,” jockey Billy Egan said.
“She is a promising filly and will be aimed for Stakes class and will target Fillies Classic races in South Australia.”
Swan Hill trainer Con Kelly was successful in getting Smart Alick back on the winning list after 1016 days since his previous win, taking out the Sunraysia Daily BM58 over the 1000m sprint distance.
Smart Alick has only been in the care of Kelly for nine starts since joining his stable from South Australia and he was aided by a rail-hugging ride by Alana Kelly for a one-length victory.
The border-hopping raiders Tippa and Just Like Lisa took out the last two races on the program for their respective SA-based trainers Shayne Cahill of Strathalbyn and Justin Pickering at Murray Bridge.
Just Like Lisa showed the benefit of returning back to country class on Monday for a two-length victory and it was the first Mildura winner for apprentice jockey Emily Pozman who rode at the track for the first time.
The Mildura Racing Club will hold its next meeting on Sunday, May 26.
