Lookin Good Lockie Ends 12 Year Drought
Lookin Good Lockie breezing in race seven. Photo: Photography by Jodie Hallows
Allen Mitchell broke a 12-year dry spell, with his runner Lookin Good Lockie winning narrowly in race seven, giving Mitchell his first victory since December 2008.
“I knew it has to end sometime, my daughter and myself put a fair bit of effort in to quite a few horses and the drought has always got to end.” Mitchell said.
At $71 on the TABTouch fixed odds market, the four-year-old maiden raced out of his class today but walked away with bragging rights after recording his first victory at start number five, driven by champion reinsman Chris Lewis.
“I wouldn’t have said punching the breeze is his go at all. He (Lookin Good Lockie) is only a smallish horse. I would have said look after him and sit him in somewhere, but to run like he did yesterday in the breeze, he was magnificent.” Mitchell said.
“I was not confident at all, but that was a great run yesterday, he put everything into it and it just shows how good he is going to be, hopefully.” He said.
With the sad passing of life member Shirley Richter, the Pinjarra Harness Racing Club dedicated the first race in her memory, with the trotters leading the program. With three scratching’s, the small field of five assembled for race one with the $1.95 Ton Tine winning by 5.3m after settling last, he went up to face the breeze with 1000m to go, running down Malabar Spur in the concluding stages to win for Claire Cummins and Maddison Brown.
Race two was with the two-year-old maidens, with Jackpot Joe NZ graduating at just his third race start in 1:59:2 for Busselton based trainer Barry Howlett and driver Chris Lewis. The $2.05 favourite toughed it out in the breeze for the majority of the race and got the win after Paul Edward who looked set for victory, rolled out of his gear not far from the finish line. Lewis walked away on Monday with a driving double on the card.
David Thompson and Dylan Egerton-Green got their win with Orlando Blue, giving Egerton-Green the first win of his driving treble for the day. With another favourite getting up for the day, the three-year-old now loses his maiden status at start number two, after overcoming a check at the 1000m point, winning impressively in race three.
“I thought I could have a successful day, but after my first drive I thought I must have hit a black cat” Egerton-Green joked.
Dylan Egerton-Green made it a race to race double when his runner Belleza Nera continued the favourite winning streak in race four. Starting from barrier two, the three-year-old gelding went one better than last start to record his first win in 1:59:6, defeating his rivals by 11.3m.
Osaka started first up for her new stable in winning form, with Corey Peterson training and driving the three-year-old filly to her first success. With the first boost of value for punters, the $8.50 shot settled midfield and left her run for the final 600m, defeating the favourite by 1.6m with a last half of 57.2 seconds.
Roll Up NZ made it two from two since resuming this season for Greg and Skye Bond, teamed with stable driver Ryan Warwick in the sixth. The three-year-old gave Team Bond the first leg of their training double on the day, with the $1.12 favourite breezing most of the way, to kick away with a 11.4m win.
Win number three for Egerton-Green came up in the last when Louie The Horse NZ led all the way from the front line in the stand, beating the favourite, Bonds other runner Lawrence NZ, giving the stable a race quinella and rounding out the second part of their winning double on the day. After leading all the way, Louie The Horse NZ managed to skip away with a 19.4m victory in the last in a mile rate of 2:01.7 over the 2631m staying journey.
Ashleigh Paikos