A $20,000 race win may only hinder rather than prosper the future development of quality pacer Whittaker, thus his withdrawal from Addington on Friday night. So mindful of having the horse in the right grade as he prepares for an Australian campaign, trainer Mark Jones, and owner Greg Brodie, who lives on the Gold Coast, have decided to pull the pin and wait for a lesser race instead. “It’s simple, really. Once Greg and I discussed it this week we decided winning a $20,000 race and getting $10,000 for winning it would work against what we are trying to achieve. …
Trip to Invers for Mark
ADDINGTON, FRIDAY OCTOBER 6 R3 RUTHLESS SUCCESS (5, fr. 2600m stand) Sam Ottley; and SAY YOUR PRES (8, fr.) Colin DeFilippi “Ruthless Success is going well and she tries so hard so filling a place again in this good race would be great. Say Your Pres has more ability of the two but her manners are not as good yet. A talented mare and I was pleased with her Methven trial. Colin will jump on and he should suit her.” ASCOT PARK, SATURDAY OCTOBER 7 R3 BELLE OF BROOKLYN (13, fr. 1700m mobile) Mark Jones -“She’s come up nicely this …
The Bus leads Mark’s Addington charge
ADDINGTON, Friday Sept 29 R2 – RUTHLESS SUCCESS (15, fr. 2600m stand) Laura McKay – “She has been racing pretty honestly as suaul. Would have been nice to get a front row draw with her in this race and the back row does make it tougher. She will run on better than most.” R4 – JOEY MAGUIRE (11, fr. 2600m mobile) Laura McKay – “He’s been going really good races. A draw would have helped, but in a juniors race quite often a poor draw can become a good one so we’ll take our luck. Capable of finishing top three …
Whittaker back, Eyre I Come to Auckland
The very talented Whittaker will resume at Addington on Friday night, the first run of the new season for the son of Sportswriter. The three-win pacer is the veteran of just 10 starts, and after the odd minor issue along the way, trainer Mark Jones is confident the now-four-year-old is ready to stand up. Whittaker brilliantly took out a winning double in Southland at the beginning of the year and looked on track for the Derbies, but things didn’t go altogether as planned and he finished his season with a 10th at Addington back in May. “I’m pleased with how …
MARK RATES HIS FIVE FOR ADDINGTON
ADDINGTON, FRIDAY SEPT 1 R2: MICHELLE (fr. Ur.) 2600m stand, Sam Ottley -“Good to see her show what she can do last start, a bit of a surprise, but a welcome one. It’ll be tricky with barriers up behind her this time and to be honest this field is far from ideal the way it has been rated.” R3: SI SI SENOR (fr,1) 1950m mobile, Sam Ottley -“Nowhere near his best last start and hopefully we have been able to improve him from that disappointment, I know he is a lot better than that. Gets his chance from the …
Delightful Memphis spelling
DELIGHTFUL MEMPHIS RELAXING, BETTOR UNDER FIRE SOLD Class filly Delightful Memphis has ended her season and is in Sydney spelling, a well deserved one after two very big seasons at two-and-three. Her three-year-old season culiminated in a fourth placing in last Saturday night’s Queensland Oaks, and she headed south afterward with New South Wales horseman Aaron Goadsby to spell alongside his own filly, Takara Truffle. “Aaron has all the facilties, great paddocks, and she will do well there,” said Mark. “The plan is to give her good break, two-to-three-months, and then bring her back to race at Menangle, picking out …
Two chances at Addington
Addington, Friday, July 14 Race 5: SPOOKY (10, Katie Cox), fr, mob. 1950m: “He’s racing well. The draw could be either a good or bad one, it depends how the one in front of us gets out. On recent form he has to be a show, just depends on where he lands in the running from where he starts from.” Race 6: JOEY MAGUIRE (4, Laura McKay), fr. mob. 2600m: “A pretty good effort from him at Rangiora, making up good ground on them. A handier draw may well help the cause. Not an easy field to beat but if …
QLD OAKS the season swansong
ADDINGTON, Friday July 7 Race 9: MANINTHEMIRROR (2, Sam Ottley), fr. mob. 1950m: “He had to be scratched with a minor issue last week but the team say he’s worked well this week. From the draw he should be somewhere handy at the finish with Mistahmistah looking very hard to beat.” ALBION PARK, Saturday July 8 Race 7: DELIGHTFUL MEMPHIS (4, Mark), fr. mob, 2138m: “A bit disappointed last week to have her fade a bit on her run but she did pull too hard and left nothing in the tank for the end. I have changed some gear and …
DELIGHTFUL MEMPHIS can bounce back
OAKS STILL NOT OUT OF BETTY’S RANGE There’s some bigger things to think of at Albion Park on Saturday night, but for Canterbury trainers Tim Butt and Mark Jones there’s been no shortage of quality entertainment on their trip to the banana state. Butt, who has Field Marshal in rare form and seeking more glory in the Sunshine Sprint this weekend, and Jones, with classy Queensland Oaks chance Delightful Memphis, have both been well looked after, and they concede the chance to attend the Jeff Horn-Manny Pacquiao fight at Suncorp Stadium last Sunday afternoon was a lifetime experience. “It was …
BETTY WELL AHEAD OF OAKS – Late driver change!
ADDINGTON, Friday June 30 Race 10: MANINTHEMIRROR (1, Sam Ottley), mob. 2600m: “I was pretty pleased with him first up in a field that was stronger than this. Nice to see him in a rating band that suits him and his competitors. I’d like to think he could go close to winning from the draw, he seems well.” TIMARU, Sunday, July 2 Race 3: PRINCESS HOLLY (8, Sam Ottley), stand, 2000m: “Very pleased with her first run. A big filly still filling out her big frame and we won’t see the best of her until next season. On what she …