It got ugly for punters at Alice Springs on Saturday with three odds-on favourites going down.
Lisa Whittle’s O’Tycoon – starting at $1.70 with online bookmakers, Dick Leech’s Cavendish ($1.22) and Terry Gillett’s Kangaroo Court ($1.85) brought excellent form to the table.
However, Pioneer Park continues to be an unpredictable venue and the feature races are up for grabs during the Alice Springs Cup Carnival starting March 16.
Carnival culminates with the $100,000 Pioneer Sprint (1200m) on April 5 and the $110,000 Alice Springs Cup (2000m) on April 6.
O’Tycoon, eyeing five wins from his past six starts, once again looked vulnerable when denied the opportunity to sit on the speed before finishing fourth in the open 1200m handicap.
Just like on January 5 when he settled midfield in a BM76 over 1000m before coming fourth, Sonja Logan had O’Tycoon camped three deep in sixth place on Saturday after drawing the outside gate in the seven-horse field.
Greg Connor’s Flying Yishu, returning after three months, continues to impress first up after holding off all challengers in the home straight despite sharing the lead and sitting three-wide.
It was a super ride by apprentice Lek Maloney on the contender, but lumping 53.5kg certainly benefitted Flying Yishu.
For Gillett’s $26 pop Supreme Attraction, ridden by daughter and apprentice Dakota, to get within a neck of the winner in second place was remarkable with the 2023 Pioneer Sprint winner a long last in the back straight.
Ray Viney’s $6.50 threat Kickatorp – third in last year’s Pioneer Sprint – was a close third with Queensland jockey Brendon Newport on board.
Cavendish, a NT Guineas (1600m) hopeful on March 22, had decimated his rivals in his two previous starts over 1400m in February, but came to grief in his 1600m debut.
With in-form Victorian apprentice Hannah Le Blanc as the pilot, the three-year-old gelding held big leads throughout the Class 2 contest before succumbing to Will Savage’s fast-finishing Becquerel.
Starting at $7.50 and with Stan Tsaikos in the saddle, Becquerel swamped the erratic Cavendish to win by 0.8 lengths.
Savage trains NT star Savatoxl, the 2019 NT Guineas winner.
Kangaroo Court had won three straight until a last start second behind O’Tycoon over 1100m a fortnight ago and dominated the BM76 over 1400m along with stablemate and $3.90 fancy Great Buy.
The Gillett pair led their rivals a merry dance before Great Buy, a last start winner in the same grade over the same distance on February 8, stepped up at the 200m under the guidance of Tsaikos to seal victory by 4.4 lengths.
Kangaroo Court, sitting outside Great Buy, had no excuse as he had a 5.5kg advantage over Great Buy courtesy of Dakota Gillett’s 1.5kg claim.
Heatwave conditions prompted the Alice Springs Turf Club to bring the meeting forward with the mercury reaching 42.7C – thus equalling the hottest day in March set in 2019.
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