Smith double headlines action from The Bridge
Paula Hearnden Scores a Murray Bridge Double
Sunday Meeting
On a nice evening at The Bridge, we saw some strong racing across the 12 race card. Paula Hearnden doesn’t come to the one turn track too often, but she enjoyed a successful night on Sunday when collecting a training double. Long Gully Cait was the first of the two, with the black bitch making the most of box one over the 395m trip. After jumping well, she landed near the front but was pressured early from the outside and was forced to push through along the rail to hold her spot. Around the turn things got tight and numerous chasers emerged as winning chances, but Long Gully Cait was just a bit too good, winning narrowly in 22.83. Later in the night it was time for Long Gully Angel to step over the 455m distance. From box seven she came out running before working super hard early as she tried to cross down to the rail. After getting into a bumping duel around the bend, she pushed her way through to a narrow lead. It was a tough finish, but she did enough and took out her grade 6 in 26.17.
Graham Smith’s terrific run rolled on for another week, as he also took out a pair of winners for the day. Woodside Star was the first with the highly talented hound taking out the fast class race of the day over the 455m distance. From box four, he came out quickly and rushed to the early lead. Towards the turn, he held the lead by two lengths and was looking good out in front. Throughout the straight he maintained control of the race and won, but not without a huge fright from Fantastic Spike who rattled home, but it was another terrific performance from Woodside Star, running a best of the day 25.64 in the process. Woodside Johnny proved dominant in his 530m grade 6, completing the double for Graham. From box five, he started the shortest favourite in Australia at $1.04 and it was quite easy to see why. He went straight to the lead and was totally dominant, running away for a big six length win in 30.24, a pretty good time given the other times on the day!
Tuesday (Straight track)
Jack Trengove had a big day up the straight on Tuesday, picking up a training treble for the meeting. She’s A Ladybird (Superior Panama x Mootwingee) knocked off her maiden at start five, beating a small field of three over the 350m trip. It was a pretty comfortable piece of work from her, as she cruised out to the lead early in the race and set up a clear margin. It was painless work from there on out as she strolled home for an easy four length win in 20.47. Royal Nangar was the next winner and he was quite impressive over the same distance. From box five, he started well and moved over to the rail early. It was a tight tussle for much of the race, but in the end the blue dog was just too good, holding on in front and getting the job done in 19.32, which was the best of the day. The last of the three was Archer Three, who proved too quick over the 300m trip. From box one, she showed great speed to find the lead early, before drifting up to the centre of the track. It was light work from there as she strode out nicely right the way through the line, winning by a couple of lengths in 17.12, completing a nice return to racing following a three month spell. A well earned day for Jack and the team!
Gary Pidgeon had a pair of box one winners to cap off a double for the day. Canya Crusader stepped out over the 350m trip and despite the advantageous box one draw, he found himself in a bit of strife early after missing the start early and settling last. Luckily, he was afforded plenty of room to balance up along the rail and he made the most of it, working through his gears quickly and moving into an ominous spot halfway up. The big bounds started to show through with 100m to go and before long he worked his way to the lead, before scoring impressively in 19.54. Last Iceberg lined up in the next race over the 300m distance. The white dog stepped quickly from the inside and went straight to the lead. With the aid of some luck to his outside leaving him with heaps of room to move, he scooted through and simply proved a bit too slick, winning untouched in 17.18, giving Gary an enjoyable drive home!