Sheila Arnold and Adam Nicholls, two well known figures in Darwin, celebrated their first win at Fannie Bay on Saturday since returning to the tropics.
Arnold, a legendary NT trainer, is based in Alice Springs after having also resided in Victoria, had her first Top End win since Quantom Dot saluted in June 2019 when Qualis (Mark Pegus) triumphed over 1600m (0-58).
17/6/23 Darwin Race 6 Replay – Qualis (1st)
Qualis ($6), a five-year-old gelding, had travelled north twice before and in three starts his best performance was a third over 1600m (Class 2) last July during Cup Carnival.
The son of Fastnet Rock, who has won four races from 13 Red Centre starts, didn’t bring good form to the Darwin after three disappointing efforts at Pioneer Park recently.
Qualis, who had his first win in a 1400m Newcastle maiden in 2020 for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bolt, bounced back spectacularly on Saturday when he blitzed his rivals by six lengths.
The field was strung out along the back straight with Qualis sitting third behind New Enterprise, but down the side and with 600m to go Pegus made his move and with 400m remaining approaching the home turn the Alice horse was picking up speed along the rails.
Into the home straight and with 350m to go Qualis rounded New Enterprise before shooting away with fast-finishing pair Floreat Pica (Ianish Luximon), Phil Cole’s $5.50 hope with the top horse racing betting sites, and Go Bundle (Emma Lines), Chris Pollard’s $7.50 fancy, filling the minor placings.
17/6/23 Darwin Race 5 Replay – Throw At Da Stumps (1st)
Meanwhile, jockey Adam Nicholls, who relocated to Victoria last year, celebrated his first Darwin win since October 22 by guiding Kerry Petrick’s $5.50 chance Throw At Da Stumps, a Darwin debutante, to an impressive 4.8 length win over 1100m (0-64).
The four-year-old gelding, the winner of two races from 15 Victorian starts, was a last start second over 1479m (BM58) at Kyneton in April and wound up in front by the 900m on Saturday after many had battled for the early lead.
Throw At Da Stumps held sway approaching the final bend and although there were plenty on his hammer he took off once straightening with the son of Rich Enuff overcoming Chole Baxter’s $10 contender To The Point (Paul Shiers) with Petrick’s $21 long-shot Real Devine (Paul Denton) rattling home for third.
17/6/23 Darwin Race 2 Replay – Star Magnum (1st)
The feature race was a 1200m open handicap with Cole sealing an upset win with $12 outsider Star Magnum (Lines) leading from start to finish to beat stablemates Soul Spirit (Luximon), who jumped at $6, and Cielo D’Oro (Wayne Davis), who started at $4.60.
Star Magnum, who raced in NSW and Queensland before a first up third for Cole over 1000m (0-70) behind Rising Sphere a fortnight ago, hadn’t won since last August at Lismore over 1110m (Class 3) with the five-year-old gelding now boasting four wins.
Mark Nyhan’s Bat Pad ($4) and Clarke’s $2.20 favourite Great Diviner, the other two starters, trailed the Cole trio across the line, while Cielo D’Oro’s hopes ended after blowing the start.
That makes it 14 wins for the season for Lines, an apprentice, who now sits in equal third place with Davis and Casey Hunter behind Jarrod Todd (32) and Sonja Wiseman (29) in the Top End and Country premiership.
17/6/23 Darwin Race 4 Replay – Gold Is Luming (1st)
Trainer Dick Leech, who is dominating the Red Centre landscape this season, had his first win since Write Your Name sealed the Alice Springs Cup on April 30 when Gold Is Luming (Shiers) got up in an 1100m maiden.
Jumping from gate nine, Gold is Luming ($13), a last start second at Pioneer Park, settled nicely in fourth place before finding the front in the home straight, but had to work hard to shake off Tayarn Halter’s $9 candidate Madame Romanov (Jade Hampson), who hit the front at the 600m, and Pollard’s $21 roughie Ruby Ruby Ruby (Alice Lindsay) with a length separating the trio at the finish.
17/6/23 Darwin Race 1 Replay – Wolfburn (1st)
Clarke and Todd, the dynamic duo in Darwin, combined for a winning double with Wolfburn ($2.80 fav) and Captain George ($1.50 fav).
Wolfburn, Snitzel’s four-year-old gelding, won the 2022 Darwin Guineas and after four recent SA starts settled outside Petrick’s New Roman (Hunter) and Baxter’s Swing With Junior (Hampson) in third place over 1300m (0-70).
New Roman ($4.80), victorious a week ago, didn’t yield in the home straight when challenged by the favourite before Wolfburn kicked away at the 200m to win by 3.5 lengths with stablemate Loveplanet (Lindsay), a $9.50 pick, a distant third.
17/6/23 Darwin Race 3 Replay – Captain George (1st)
Nothing separated Captain George, who won first up in Darwin two weeks ago, and Heather Lehmann’s $20 runner Quick Return (Wiseman), who led on the fence, throughout over 1200m (0-58) with the SA visitor spotting the favourite 4.5kg.
Captain George, formerly trained by Anthony Cummings, finally got the measure of Quick Return at the 100m to win by 1.5 lengths with Cole’s $21 aspirant Turnstar (Lines) flashing home for third – albeit 3.75 lengths away.
17/6/23 Darwin Race 7 Results & Replay – Hettinger (1st)
Read the full race review and replay for Darwin race 7 here.
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