Sunday Evening at the Bridge
On a Sunday evening we were back at Murray Bridge for 10 of the best on the horseshoe track. I arrived with 10 minutes to spare before the first race but that was more than enough time for all and sundry to remind me that Richmond came 2nd the night before…. against bloody Port Power of all teams….anyway the races soon began and we were away!
Race 1 was the only maiden on the card and it was Neil Mann’s “Misaffection” that got the nod with a long sustained run and timed it to perfection, gathering up Uprise right on the post. Uprise would have given Lachie Mill his first training win but it wasn’t quite to be.
Race 2 saw newcomer Cawbourne Boomer get up for up and coming trainer (and girlfriend of Lachie) Tara Rasmussen. They came to the track together and the drive home might have been a bit one sided with Tara 1 – Lachy 0 for the night!
Snakebite Me took out the third in pretty dominant fashion. It was the first hit out around the horseshoe for the Snakebite Bale x Kung Fu Mary pup and he handled it well. Calais Peruzzi showed speed and led but around the home turn he drifted wide and gave Snakebite Me a saloon passage and he went on to win by 1.25 lengths.
The fourth race saw Fly For Fun bounce back after a bit of a misfire in the Straight Track Final. He was sent out the $1.65 hot pop and it was clear to see why. He jumped……and then he was gone! He stopped the clock in a personal best of 25:34 and his rival were lucky if they saw his brindle bum up the straight winning by nearly 8 lengths!
Call Me Billy, also put the Straight Track Final behind him last night and got the nod in his 395m race.
The fastest of the 395m runs last night came in race 6 with Fly For Trix stopping the clock in a brisk 22:11 and improving his personal best by 2 or 3 lengths.
Cawbourne Get Up took out the seventh race of the night named after yours truly and the track continued to produce fast times with the blue boy running 22:24 and also setting a new PB.
The brother of Sir Truculent, Power Burner, was sent out as an 8 dollar chance with a couple of handy dogs – Danyo’s Bully and Air Marshall – battling for favouritism. The remaining 5 dogs were all over 20 bucks and weren’t rated by the punters. The two favourites jumped well with Cawbourne Cross, and Danyo’s Bully looked to have it in the bag but Power Burner and his long strides, tore up the ground and got the win by a nose in another fast 22:25.
Shortly after the numbers went in the frame Don Higgon started the celebrations and people as far east as Cobar and as far north as Tennant Creek heard “Good boy Percy… good boy”. An elderly gentleman in Ulverstone in Tasmania was rumoured to be seen turning to his wife saying “Who the bloody hell is Percy?”
Races 9 and 10 were won by the farmer from Pinaroo and his dogs Hank The Hustler and Oakvale Blue. The wins secured training honours for Nathan Wilson with the late double and made the drive home a lot quicker!
Anyway, that was Murray Bridge for the 9th of August 2020, and that was my story!
Pictured: Tara Rasmussen and partner Locky with Cawbourne Boomer