THE PETLEY REPORT: KIWIS SHINE AT BALLARAT

By Jack Petley | Sunday, November 22, 2020

Kiwis certainly enjoyed the limelight in the $125,000 MM Clockwise Classic at Ballarat. The winner was a colt by Bull Point named Readily Available trained by John Sargent out of his Sydney yard and ridden by Mick Dee. Second was Prince Amongst Men in the hands of Michael Walker and third, Rambeau, trained by Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young.

It was an impressive win by Readily Available gathering in the other pair in the last 50 metres with a spirited bid and this, of course, has him right on track for the rich MM on the Gold Coast early next month.

Sargent, just an hour beforehand, had been successful with Gunaluva in a 2600 metre race at Gosford with the four-year-old son of Reliable Man proving far too strong for his rivals over the distance.

And while on Michael Walker, what a win by the Brett Scott trained Irish Flame in the $500,000 Ballarat Cup. The son of Zed drew wide and for most of the journey he was forced to race 3 and 4 wide with Walker trying ever so hard, but with no luck, of getting a better possie. Off the home bend the stayer looked "done with" after so much hard work throughout the journey but, instead, he fought back and held out the late finish of heavily backed Affair to Remember.

Irish Flame first commenced racing with John Wheeler and he transferred to Scott in June and since then the stayer has won three and gained four placings from eight runs for Scott. Scott, at one time in his career, was stable foreman for New Plymouth trainer Allan Sharrock and that's where Michael Walker met up with him. "He taught me to ride," Walker said, "so great to re-pay him with this win."

That was a solid win by the Savabeel gelding Blandford Lad over 2600 metres at Ballarat and other decisive winners were Skiddaw in the McKellar Mile, for Damian Lane and Danny O'Brien, and Lane was also seen at his best when winning on Excess Funds for Levi Kavanagh.
That was also a fine win by Sunlight's little sister, Sisstar, when she gained a narrow win in the MM 3 and 4 year old Classic and she is now looking like a replacement in the McEvoy yard after that sale during the year of Sunlight on the Gold Coast for a whacking $4.2million.

And what about Chris Waller and James McDonald … they won four on the Kembla Grange card, McDonald on Bigboyroy, Accountability, Mo's Crown and Matowi and Waller with Bigboyroy, Accountability, Hulk and Matowi. Accountability hit the line only second behind stablemate Relucent in the 2000 metre event, but McDonald fired in a protest against the winner, citing meeting with interference at the 200m mark, and the placings were reversed. Good efforts by both Waller runners and both are improving and likely to head towards races like the Summer Cup and Tatts Cup this coming summer.

Matowi got home by the narrowest of margins in his race and McDonald timed his finish to a nicety. Bigboyroy ran a quick time to gain his victory for the Kiwis and held off Air to Air gamely and may now step up in stronger class in the Gr2 $250,000 Villiers Stakes over 1600 metres at Randwick mid-December. Hulk gained his second win from his last four starts for Waller in the hands of Tommy Berry and it looks as though he is best suited by short course racing.

While those wins by McDonald and Waller gave them a day to cheer about the most impressive win on a great day at Kembla was that of the Team Hawkes galloper Archemedus in the $1 million, The Gong. What made the win all the more impressive is that he and Positive Peace set a torrid pace early and when Positive Peace dropped away Dawn Passage came on the scene to challenge and then take a short lead. But Archedemus fought back ever so gamely, took back the lead to gain his first win for some 18 months and his first since joining the yard of Team Hawkes from Kembla trainer, Gwenda Markwell. “The Villiers Stakes is likely to be his next run,” said Michael Hawkes, but that, he said, would depend on how the galloper came through his hard run.

Opie Bosson was in fine form at the Pukekohe meeting in NZ winning the Counties Cup for Te Akau and Jamie Richards on In a Twinkling, holding out stablemate Savy Yong Blonk and earlier the rider was successful on the well bred mare Media Sensation in the Breeders Stakes for Dawn and Peter Williams. Bosson was seen at his brilliant best on Media Sensation rating the mare perfectly in front and holding on to gain her seventh win.

In a Twinkling holds entries for the City of Auckland Cup and the Auckland Cup and Richards says he is best suited on right-handed tracks." "He didn't go at all well in the Waikato Cup last year, so, I think, we will stick with Auckland," he said. Ina Twinkling was purchased by David Ellis for $250,000 at Karaka and he has now gathered four wins and $440,000 for his syndicate of owners.