Riverton trainer Ebony Turner kicked off summer in perfect fashion when scoring her first quinella at Cromwell on Sunday.
Turner was quietly confident heading into the Property Brokers – Ray Kean Rating 65 (2030m) with her two contenders, Caffeinated and Three Ninety, although punters didn’t share her enthusiasm, with her representatives paying $36 and $17.60 on the tote respectively.
Three Ninety jumped well and was taken straight to the lead by jockey Yogesh Atchamah before quickly handing up to Sunset Express, while Caffeinated was caught three wide for the first half of the journey, finally making the front at the 1000m mark.
Reelrose headed Caffeinated at the 800m, but the Riverton mare recaptured the lead when turning for home and quickly kicked clear by a couple of lengths. Lily Of The Valley looked to be her only worry until Atchamah was able to get Three Ninety into the clear and she was able to close late to get within 2-1/2 lengths of her stablemate, with 1-1/2 lengths back to Lily Of The Valley in third.
Turner was duly rapt with the result.
“I was so thrilled, it was amazing,” she said.
“Off Caffeinated’s track work I was pretty confident that she would be hard to beat. My only question mark were her races leading into yesterday, which were pretty disappointing.
“When Three Ninety got in off the ballot I was saying to my partner that if anyone was a threat to her (Caffeinated) it would be Three Ninety off her run on Friday, where she got held up, couldn’t get clear air and was storming down the outside.”
While she was confident heading into the race, Turner admitted to being concerned when Caffeinated was caught three-wide, but she knew her staying prowess would hold her in good stead.
“I was pretty nervous when I saw Caffeinated three-wide down the straight,” she said. “But the more ground we get her over, the better we are going to see from her, so I thought if she technically ended up going 2100m because she had that wide trip, I didn’t think it was going to knock her around.
“With Three Ninety, Yogesh settled her beautifully and all I wanted was for him to get her in clear air early because she is just such an unlucky horse. It was good to see him ride her really nicely.
“It’s awesome to get the treats on the feature day.”
Sunday’s result capped an enjoyable weekend away for Turner, who was able to enjoy some downtime in the holiday destination.
“On Saturday we went up to Lake Tekapo, which was really cool. We had a nice wee holiday between successes,” she said.
Turner is now looking forward to racing over the summer months, and is particularly excited about the prospects of Caffeinated and Monte Civetta.
“I am really looking forward to Caffeinated on those Good tracks, I think she is going to be really fun this summer,” she said.
“Another one I am really looking forward to is Monte Civetta, I reckon she is going to be a lot of fun over those 2400m-2600m trips. I am excited for the summer with those two.”
