Monday, February 11, 2019
Ten days ago it was local dam Azumi Touch, after finishing third last year behind Cryer’s Midget and Who’s Doing What on the leading dams’ list with 27 wins, who took an early lead in 2019 with two members of her Dyna Tron litter successful at Tara Raceway’s Sunday meeting.
Highlighting the litter’s performance at that meeting was the effort of Lee and Steve Bartholomew’s Azumi Ryder who led all the way to defeat Cryer’s Plugger in the Paraphernalia Mixed Stake (512 metres), clocking a then year’s best 29.78 seconds which matched Hutch’s run on January 13.
Azumi Ryder’s win was her third this year and puts her among the top local contenders for next month’s Fairthorne Forestry Mount Gambier Cup (512 m), heats of which will be run on Sunday, March 24 and the $22,000 final a week later.
By Cosmic Rumble x Elite Touch, 16-race winner Azumi Touch contested the 2013 Mount Gambier Cup – ultimately won by Colville – running second in a heat to Spellbound.
Last year, the Steve Bartholomew-trained Galactic Panther, a son of Galactic Rumball (a litter sister to Azumi Touch), finished third in the inaugural Listed Mount Gambier Cup final behind Xtreme Caution and Lektra Stomp.
Earlier in the day, Azumi Stringer had been the first leg of the litter double, the Bart Bartholomew trained black dog quickly rounding up early leader Viking Storm before going on to win his first race in 10 months in 23.26 seconds – a stopper bone injury sidelining him for seven months last year.
And at last Wednesday’s time-graded meeting Mount Gambier owner-trainer Adam Mackereth trained his first winner since My Dad’s Dream back on September 3, 2017 when litter sister Azumi Spirit was successful in the Swallow Drive Meats Stake (400 m).
Away well from box one, Azumi Spirit settled in second spot before finishing powerfully in the home straight to defeat Dynamic Ross in 23.61 seconds and bring up her first win since last September.
Picked up by Mackareth last November as a giveaway, the brindle bitch had shown little in four runs for her new trainer, the win coming at her first race start in two months, after some niggling injuries, and on the back of a recent handy 400 metre trial at Tara Raceway.
That win took Azumi Touch to five winners this year and had her holding a one-win lead over Cryer’s Midget and Who’s Doing What in the Leading Dams award.
Then at Tara Raceway on Sunday afternoon leading trainer Tracie Price of Compton landed his second treble of the year when Dimora Flash, Same Scenario and Smart Marty were successful in consecutive races.
By Fabregas out of Who’s Doing What, Same Scenario led all the way in a keenly-contested Winningformula.net.au Grade 5 final (512 m), eventually holding out Lone Star who finished hard along the rails to win by a length with Maunganui Magic 1½ lengths back in third spot in 30.04 seconds.
In the following event, the Williams Crane Hire Stake (400 m), Smart Marty, by Knocka Norris and a half-brother to the previous winner, turned in an outstanding performance when winning by 8¾ lengths in a quick 23.01 seconds.
Earlier, Tom Cryer’s four-year-old Cryer’s Plugger, a son of Spring Gun x Cryer’s Midget, led all the way to win the Gambier Vets Open Stake (512 m) in 29.58 seconds, the fastest time run at Tara Raceway since Rockoon’s 29.28 seconds track record on July 1 last year.
And how about the run of another four-year-old in Blazing Moment, gallant in defeat with a 2½ length second to Cryer’s Plugger in 29.76 seconds.
So, at the end of Sunday’s racing, once again little separates last year’s leading dams – Who’s Doing What with six winners leading Azumi Touch and Cryer’s Midget by only one win.