Not much joy for locals, but Cup Day a success

Saturday’s Winsec Savings and Loans Wangaratta Cup Races brought out the crowds to witness some top-notch racing in glorious sunshine. While the punters were kept entertained with hospitality and entertainment, the real action was on the track, with the day featuring a blockbuster eight-race card with some of the most exciting runners in the game. While a bevy of locally trained hopes were entered into races across the day, it was a somewhat lacklustre return for Wangaratta stables, with only the one win and a smattering of placings. It all kicked off from 1pm with the McGregor Machinery Maiden Plate, which saw Ole Daze ($4.60) salute. Trained locally by Vincent Nolen, the three-year-old gelding stormed past the post over a length ahead of Yule Point ($3.40) and Ben Brisbourne’s Frosted Amber ($10) and Mukatila ($7). Race two featured another fourth-placing for Brisbourne in Just Landed ($14), which came in more than four lengths behind winner Naraghi ($5.50). While race three, won by Echuca runner Got Out The Fence ($2.15), featured no Wangaratta talent, Dan McCarthy scored a third placing with The Shaper ($7) by a whisker in race four. More placings came through Brisbourne’s third-placer Torn ($11) and Weeding’s Fox Appeal ($13) in race five, it was all building to race six, the battle for the Cup. Three local hopes sprang out of the gate, with McCarthy’s Sir Davy ($101), Brisbourne’s Sea Strike ($41) and Weeding’s Make It Sweet ($3.90) all in the big one. Make It Sweet and Sir Davy were in contention early, but as the runners rounded the final bend, New York Hurricane ($6.50) and jockey Alana Kelly began to push on the outside, storming down the straight to claim the Cup by a nose. French runner Gregolimo ($6) and Kiwi prospect Wymark ($3.70) were next across, with Make It Sweet holding on for a fourth-place finish. Pink Chandon ($7) claimed race seven with Brisbourne’s Lightning Flash ($11) in fourth, while Andrew Dale and jockey Jake Duffy claimed third in race eight with Turnaquid ($7.50), ahead of Brisbourne’s Reasonable Point ($12). Wangaratta Turf Club CEO Emma Merlo said while she would’ve liked to see more locally trained horses come home with wins, it was a tremendous showing of racing talent. “They tend to do really well on most of our other race days, but when you’re having a Cup, you’ve got 100 grand up for grabs, you definitely get some really good quality competition in there as well,” she said. “It’s what you want with your Cup, you really want to attract a lot of good quality horses, and we were really happy with who was running in our Cup, it was definitely another step up from last year with the quality coming in. “We’re very proud of what we were able to deliver on and off the track, but just bummed that one of our locals couldn’t take it [the Cup] home because it would’ve been really lovely.”

Not much joy for locals, but Cup Day a success

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