Having combined for a winning double on Day 1 of the 2023 Darwin Cup Carnival, trainer Gary Clarke and stable rider Jarrod Todd added a treble on Day 2 over the weekend.
The prolific pairing had success with six-year-old gelding Desert Dreamer, three-year-old gelding Doc O’Connor and three-year-old gelding Change Is Coming.
Apart from Jason Manning’s success on Saturday in the $60,000 Chief Minister’s Cup (1600m) with Noir De Rue, the win by Change Is Coming – formerly trained by Bjorn Baker at Warwick Farm – was a standout.
Hitting the front early in race five, the son of Capitalist – a $2.60 favourite with online bookmakers – settled and kicked three lengths clear at the final bend with 350m to go before sprinting clear to win the 0-58 Handicap by 10.39 lengths with seemingly plenty left in the tank.
It was an ominous performance with Change Is Coming clocking 56.17 for the 1000m – the track record of 56.07 was set by Clarke’s I’m Too Hot in the Montgomerie Lightning on Darwin Cup Day in 2019.
Change Is Coming was scratched at the gates ahead of his proposed Top End debut on June 10 before winning a 900m trial three days later by 6.25 lengths.
In seven NSW starts, Change Is Coming’s only win was in an 1100m Bathurst maiden, but on Saturday he was devastating with Phil Cole’s Exceedingly Magic and David Bates’ Fraction Late filling the minor placings.
With that dominant win, Clarke would no doubt be eyeing the $40,000 Benchmark 68 for the three-year-olds on July 29.
Darwin R5 replay – Change Is Coming
In the third race of the day, Desert Dreamer ($7) held the fence after jumping from the inside gate and had Mark Nyhan’s Mister Monaro and Kerry Petrick’s Throw At Da Stumps for company out in front before kicking clear in the home straight to win by 1.46 lengths from Throw At Da Stumps and Nyhan’s Bat Pad.
Lumping 60.5kg in the 1200m 0-76 Handicap, it was a fine win by the son of Dream Ahead after finishing seventh behind Ideas Man in his first Fannie Bay start two weeks ago over 1000m.
Darwin R3 replay – Desert Dreamer
In the fourth race, Doc O’Connor may have had Russell Bell’s Garrucha for company early when they skipped clear of the field, but the son Lonhro was dictating terms and, although tiring and drifting wide in the final stages, held on to overcome Patrick Johnston’s $2.05 favourite Ankle Rolex, returning from a spell, and Garrucha.
Formerly trained in Victoria by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, Doc O’Connor now has three wins from five starts for Clarke and he, along with Ankle Rolex, looks set for the aforementioned $40,000 three-year-old race.
Darwin R4 replay – Doc O’Connor
Trainer Chloe Baxter, who celebrated her first win at the corresponding meeting last year with First Crusade, marked the occasion in style when four-year-old gelding To The Point recorded a last-gasp win over 1300m at 0-66 level in the opening race.
Tom Logan’s Virtuous Miss, along with Clarke’s $2.15 favourite Captain George and Neil Dyer’s Latest Bentley, held sway out in front, but approaching the home turn To The Point, nestling in fourth place on the fence, was poised to strike.
The gallant Virtuous Miss looked like winning before To The Point pounced along the rails to win by 0.2 lengths with Captain George a narrow third.
Darwin R1 replay – To The Point
In the last of seven races, Sheila Arnold’s five-year-old gelding Qualis made it two wins from three starts since returning to Darwin, putting in a powerful winning burst in the home straight before toppling Heather Lehmann’s Marvelous Night and Chris Pollard’s All Hard Wood over 1600m at 0-62 level.
The son of Fastnet Rock, jumping as a $3 favourite with the top betting sites, settled in fourth place before running down the unlucky Marvelous Night, who hit the front at the 600m after travelling three deep after sharing the lead.
For winning jockey Mark Pegus, it continued a remarkable record as it was the 10th-straight NT meeting where he had landed a winner.
Darwin R7 replay – Qualis
In the 1200m maiden in race two, Manning’s Motivated Miss edged to the lead at the 600m before going on to post an impressive win on her NT debut after arriving from Toby and Trent Edmonds’ Gold Coast stable.
The three-year-old filly, a daughter of The Mission, wasn’t all that far away in her last three Queensland starts and prevailed by two lengths at $9 from Cole’s Exgames and Clarke’s Starspangledancer.
Darwin R2 replay – Motivated Miss
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