Monday, January 14, 2019

Tipping Woody, a 4½-year-old son of Stagger and Hippy Chic, went close to winning his first race since April 2017 at Tara Raceway last Wednesday.

Having his first start since consecutive race falls at the local track in September and October last year, the black dog was a $51 chance in the JB Irrigation Stake (400 m) when going down by a head to his sister Cement Socks, the littermates both trained by Kevin Ashton of Charlton for the Rosemont Syndicate.

It was the best story all day to come out of the meeting, Ashton and his partner Jan Neil’s remarkable effort in getting both Cement Socks and Tippy Woody back racing again certainly a case of perseverance personified.

In fact, back in June 2017 it appeared likely that Cement Socks’ racing career was over after taking a heavy fall at Ballarat that resulted in a broken leg.

But a year later she was racing again although at her third run back she fractured a metacarpal which necessitated a further three months off the scene before returning to the track in early November last year and winning a further three races.

And Tipping Woody, after winning four races between February and April 2017, broke a hock which saw him sidelined for 16 months.

The mating of 64-race winner Stagger and Hippy Chic, a winner at Sandown Park and The Meadows, has also produced Wot Price Flash (22 wins, $43,000 stakemoney), Tree Climber Liv (20, $33,000) and Mix Off Harmony (10, $22,000).

Meanwhile, local trainer Ken Feltus broke a run of outs when Quick Sensation led all the way in the Greg Martlew Autos Stake (400 m), holding on to win by a neck in 23.68 seconds over Gin Lee’s Bullet and Bungaloo Thor.

For Feltus, it was his first Tara Raceway win since Allen Robbie had been successful in June last year, Quick Sensation previously a winner for him at Tara Raceway in 2017 prior to the black dog doing the majority of his racing in Adelaide during 2018.

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