Two race meetings in Alice Springs for the 2022/23 season and two winning doubles for jockey Jessie Philpot.
The 27-year-old kicked off the new campaign in style on August 6 when she piloted Me Cabo and White Kaps to victory for trainer Greg Connor.
She then headed home for a holiday in Queensland before returning to the Red Centre on Saturday for wins aboard Connor’s stablemates Bar Gem and Intercontinental.
Bar Gem was returning after finishing fifth in open company over 1400m on Alice Springs Cup Day on May 1, and it continued the seven-year-old gelding’s impressive first up record.
Formerly trained by Norm Bracken, Bar Gem has had eight wins from 35 starts and in nine appearances following a spell the former South Australian galloper has now posted two wins, four seconds and a third.
The son of Barbados had his final start for Bracken in November last year when he got the cash over 1200m (0-64) in Darwin before switching to the Connor stable.
Debuting at Pioneer Park for Connor, Bar Gem was victorious over 1100m (0-70) in December before coming second over 1200m (0-76) on March 20 and (0-70) on April 9.
A win followed over 1400m (0-76) on April 19 before his fifth on Alice Springs Cup Day – the only time he has not finished either first, second or third in 13 starts in the Red Centre.
The $22,000 Daryl Braithwaite 17 September Handicap (1100m) was the feature race in Alice Springs on the weekend with Bar Gem missing the start quite significantly.
He easily trailed the seven other runners, but by the 800m he had caught the field and was clearly building momentum.
By the 600m he was making ground on the leaders and before turning for home at the 400m mark he was in full flight.
Heading to the outside once entering the home straight, Bar Gem ($5) went on with the job to win by three and a half lengths in 1.03.16 – finishing the last 600m in 34.25.
Roughly (Casey Hunter), a 10-year-old mare, who has switched from the Phil Cole stable to the Leah Walling-Denton yard, started at $8.50 with Australian bookmakers and was aiming for a third straight win before finishing solidly to grab second place.
Jess Gleeson’s $7 hope Glock (Sonja Wiseman), a last start winner on Darwin Cup Day on August 1, just pipped stablemate Devil’s Temptation (Dan Morgan), an $8.50 chance, for third place.
“I know he’s got it, so when he does miss the kick I don’t get too worried about it,” Philpot said.
“I just let him do his own thing.
“He ran home well, so it was good to see and good for his owners as well.
“He was pretty consistent last prep and he’s started off his prep in nice fashion, so hopefully it continues.”
Fearing that she may have been too far adrift after missing the start, Philpot added that by going too early in her quest to catch the leaders Bar Gem may have been running on empty come the end of the race.
“I did think of that, but he just travelled so strong in the race,” she said.
“I thought instead of fighting him and getting him back in the dirt I’d just let him work through his gears and he seemed to do that well.
“We know what racing in Alice is like.
“You’ve got to be up there and when he missed it on Saturday I sort of went to Plan B.
“If he had of got beaten I probably would have been the worst rider in Australia, but it worked out well.”
Intercontinental, who lumped 61kg as the $2.70 favourite, made it two wins from his past three starts this preparation after a three month break with victory over 1100m (0-54) after leading from start to finish.
It was a similar scenario for the six-year-old gelding when he returned to action on July 17 over 1100m (0-54) and led throughout, while on August 6 he relinquished the early lead over 1200m (0-54) before finishing third behind Travanti and Liberty Blue.
“Intercontinental is in pretty good form at the moment,” Philpot said.
“He’s pretty one dimensional – he always jumps well and puts himself in a race.
“I did think with the big weight he might get run down, but he kept trying.
“He had a couple of rough races in his last prep, but he has bounced back pretty good.”
After 11 appearances at Pioneer Park for seven seconds and a third, the Lisa Whittle-trained Liberty Blue (Sonja Wiseman) finally tasted success with victory against Class 2 opposition over 1100m.
Having one of the in-form jockeys in the NT in Wiseman as company, the eight-year-old gelding ($2.60 fav) hit the front when they jumped and was never headed before going on to make it just three wins in 52 career starts.
In recent years, Liberty Blue has raced alternatively in South Australia and Alice Springs and apart from winning his other two races at Port Augusta he has finished as a minor place-getter 22 times.
After two seconds and a fourth at Pioneer Park after arriving at the stable of Will Savage from NSW, six-year-old gelding and $2.50 favourite Fantasy Eagle (Ianish Luximon) swooped on the leader Winter Harbour (Stan Tsaikos) in the home straight to seal victory against 0-70 class over 1400m with Exonerate (Dakota-Lee Gillett) third.
It was Fantasy Eagle’s first win since downing Class 3 opposition over 1500m on a Heavy 8 at Port Macquarie on January 21.
Apprentice Dakota-Lee Gillett won her first race on Saturday after guiding Leah Walling-Denton’s nine-year-old mare Hard Work Rewards ($17) to victory over 1200m (0-64) and Philpot could not have been more happier for the 16-year-old.
“Yeah, it was really good to see,” she said.
“She’s been in the rooms with us for the last few meetings and she was very happy, so it was good to see.
“She’s got the monkey off her back now, so she should continue to excel.”
More horse racing news
