By Jonny Turner
Home track heroics were the order of the day at Gore’s Summer Cup meeting yesterday.
Trainer Tony Stratford produced a winning double on his home track with horses who had contrasting form in Is He Watching Me and Vincent Can Gogh.
Fellow Eastern Southlanders Ross and Chris Wilson also scored with Hot Fizz before taking yesterday’s feature with Brookie’s Player.
Brookie’s Player has taken his game to a new level since resuming from a spell with yesterday’s win in the Gore Summer Cup for driver Mark Hurrell coming on the back of a slick win on Riverton Cup Day.
“Mark said he went super today,” Chris Wilson said.
“He relaxed when he wanted him to relax and he sprinted in the straight and Mark said he did it pretty well.”
“We were really happy with that.”
Chris Wilson shared insights into Brookie’s Player’s final serious workout ahead of his victory in a GoPro video aimed at promoting yesterday’s meeting.
Footage of the horse working stylishly was captured, with his only fault being a break over the track crossing.
But it wasn’t an issue in his faultless victory.
“He has a great turn of foot and the only thing I was worried about was the crossing as I said in that interview.”
“But Mark gave him three looks at it in the prelim and he got over it clean.”
Ross and Chris Wilson also enjoyed a memorable win with Hot Fizz who took out the Robyn’s Treasure Fillies And Mares Pace – a race named after their family’s outstanding former race mare.
Hot Fizz is a relative of the two-time Group One winner, with her fourth dam Ryal Robyn the dam of Robyn’s Treasure.
Chris Wilson admitted Hot Fizz had tested his patience leading into her victory but he was all smiles when she showed her true ability at the races.
“She has really tested me, but we have been working on some of her soreness issues.”
“It is so good to have her running in a straight line and really stretching out.”
While it is unclear whether Hot Fizz will reach the kind of heights Robyn’s Treasure did in her grand career, it looks certain that the four-year-old has more wins in store.
“She has got a lot to learn but she has certainly got a motor in there.”
“She has got fast wee legs, she is not very big but she can run really fast.”
Tony Stratford quickly turned around the form of Is He Watching Me who scored a front-running victory on the Gore grass yesterday.
The mare hadn’t featured in her recent outings but she dominated her rivals when proving too strong for driver Brad Williamson.
Williamson and Stratford doubled up when Vincent Can Gogh broke through for a maiden victory later on the Gore card.
The three-year-old hadn’t enjoyed too much luck in his two prior starts when being handed tricky draws, but he and Williamson took full advantage of drawing barrier 2.
