They’re once again holidaying in Darwin, but Murray Bridge trainer Heather Lehmann and husband Graham remain hopeful that their small team will be competitive during Cup Carnival.
The Lehmanns have six horses, they’ve all had one run each this past fortnight for a win, two seconds, and a third.
Lucky Fortuna, the daughter of Smart Missile, debuted at Fannie Bay last year and had six starts for two wins, a second, a third, and a fourth.
The four-year-old mare starred last weekend in 0-58 grade over 1200m when after sharing the early lead, she sprinted clear in the home straight to prevail by 3.8 lengths.
Darwin apprentice Emma Lines proved why she is second in the Top End and Country jockey’s premiership by producing a faultless ride.
“Lucky Fortuna handled the track really well last year, we knew that she was an ideal horse to bring back up here,” Heather said.
“She won a trial when we arrived back in Darwin, then she’s ran a super race first up.
“She’ll go around again next Saturday and I’m hoping to be able to secure Emma, she seems to get on well with the mare.”
On Saturday, Valkur faces fellow three-year-olds over 1300m, fellow three-year-old Scudetto meets Class 2 opposition over 1200m, and a 1600m test (0-64) awaits five-year-old Marvelous Night – who has tasted Top End success.
“Valkur is a maiden, there’s a few nice ones in Saturday’s race, but she’s come on really well from her first start here when third,” Lehmann said.
“Scudetto ran a nice race first up (second), he adapted to the track, we were happy with his effort.
“He’s pulled up well, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t run well, he’s drawn a good gate.
“Marvelous Night, this is his third year coming up here, he handles the track, but he has to have things go his way.
“Hopefully, he’ll run better second up from barrier two after a last start fifth.”
Emerald Court and Gift Of Gold will return in the coming weeks.
With the Darwin Cup Carnival starting on July 6, Lehmann hasn’t targeted particular races, emphasising that she’s happy to “go with the flow”.
The couple made their first trip north in 2015 and have missed two Cup Carnivals – 2017 when they attended weddings overseas and 2020 because of COVID.
Lehmann’s biggest win was the 2021 NT Derby with Sanblas, which also put winning jockey Sonja Logan on the map in the NT.
Spending time in Darwin allows the Lehmanns to escape the cold weather back home.
“We’ve got some really nice people up here that we know,” Lehmann said.
“I’m pretty busy at home with a lot of things that we have going on there, so to be able to come up here and just relax and race the horses is great.
“We have fun and try to recuperate before we go home again to work hard again and come back to Darwin once again next year.
“Even if our horses don’t race right through to the end of Carnival, we’ll be staying until it concludes.”
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