Cairns Amateurs Cup: Next stop Brisbane for winner Bullion Wolf
Elated connections forecast a trip to Brisbane for veteran warhorse Bullion Wolf and put him in the mix for an Ipswich Cup tilt after a strong win in the Cairns Amateurs Cup.
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Elated connections forecast a trip to Brisbane for veteran warhorse Bullion Wolf and put him in the mix for an Ipswich Cup tilt after a strong win in the Cairns Amateurs Cup.
The eight-year-old ran a smart race under Brisbane-based jockey Corey Bayliss to deliver Townsville trainer Leslie Gordy his first win in the 2100m feature race at Cannon Park on Saturday.
Coming off back-to-back thirds in the Cairns Newmarket (1400m) and the Cairns Cup (2100m), which was his first time racing over further than 1600m, Bullion Wolf was ridden a peach by Bayliss, who positioned his mount perfectly to challenge his rivals in the straight.
In his 60th start, the gelding unleashed down the outside to hit the front about 150m from home and held off the fast-finishing Maquereau to claim the 13th and most significant win of his career.
Gordy’s mother and stable foreman Beverley said Bullion Wolf would now venture to Brisbane, leaving as early as this week.
“He’ll go to Brisbane now,” she said.
“We’ve got a race lined up for him in Brisbane and I’ll take him down. He’ll go down on Thursday morning.”
Beverley said the decision to take Bullion Wolf south was based around targeting staying races, with an eye on the $130,000 Queensland Cup (2400m) at Eagle Farm on October 9.
“The next long race up here is probably 1500m to 1600m, so we’re better off to take him down there and give him a crack,” she said.
“I’m taking him down for that race and then we’ll spell him down there, and then when he comes back in from a spell we’ll probably give him to a trainer down there.”
Part-owner Scott Broodbank said Bullion Wolf’s Cairns Amateurs Cup triumph was “unbelievable”.
“He surprised us in the Cairns Cup,” he said.
“He had never run over 1600m before and we jumped him straight from 1400m up to 2100m.
“But after he finished off like that in the Cairns Cup, we were obviously a lot more confident that he could get the distance.”
Broodbank confirmed Brisbane was now on the cards.
“We were waiting to see what happens here, but if he won this race we were definitely looking at something like that,” he said.
“Just aiming for next prep, towards an Ipswich Cup or something like that maybe.”
Beverley said Bullion Wolf was a “machine”.
“He won the Coral Coast Cup over 1600m late last year so we knew that he would get over a bit of ground but we were concentrating on the sprints,” she said.
“Credit to him, he hasn’t been trained as a stayer would normally be trained, so he’s an outright stayer.
“He does a lot of beach work. I take him to the beach nearly every day. He loves it, it chills him right out.”
Beverley said the win was the result of a team effort.
Herself and husband Paul, a former champion Townsville jockey, are heavily involved in son Leslie’s training endeavours, alongside their daughters and their partners.
She also thanked Townsville trainer Stacey Adam following the win.
“She’s our rock,” she said.
Short back-up no worry for Willygood
The decision to start Willygood for a second time in three days paid off for trainer Roy Chillemi on Saturday.
Willygood backed up from Thursday in the Cairns Amateurs Sprint (1400m) and flashed home to get the chocolates ahead of Simply Splashing and Doctor Zous.
The five-year-old mare ran home late for fifth in a 1300m race at Townsville on Thursday and took no harm from the run, convincing Chillemi to back her up.
“She run in Townsville the other day and she was held up,” he said.
“Had she got through she would have nearly had won the race, but she was looking for further. She’s been screaming out ‘Give me some more ground and I’ll win for you’.”
Owner Tom Hedley said a three-day back up was something not seen very often in racing.
“We don’t do it neither but she didn’t have a hard run on Thursday, as you can see with the way she put in (on Saturday),” he said.
“That race in Townsville probably wasn’t run to suit, she only did a bit of work in the last 200m.
“We don’t do it and I don’t like doing it, but it’s paid off this time.”
Hedley, who is also the Cairns Jockey Club president, said whether she would keep racing or go for a let up had not been decided.
“She’s got problems with her soundness, so we’re a bit concerned if we put her out, with her problems it might take a little while to recover when we bring her back,” he said.
“I’ll chat to Roy, but I reckon she’s ready for a bit of a let up and then look toward next year.
“The heat’s coming up so it would be nice not to race her too much.”
Maquereau can go one one better after stunning Cairns Cup effort
His runs in the Townsville and Cairns Cups were night and day, but Tolga trainer Sharlee D’Avila is confident about which Maquereau will turn up at Cannon Park on Saturday.
A perfect barrier has boosted D’Avila’s hopes of claiming the biggest win of her career with the seven-year-old in the Cairns Amateurs Cup.
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Maquereau will jump from barrier five and was on Friday afternoon a $9 chance with TAB for the $150,000 feature race over 2100m.
Since saluting in his first North Queensland start just over a year ago – at the blowout price of $51, no less – he’s been a consistent performer, with five wins and three seconds from 12 starts in the north.
D’Avila also sent Maquereau down to Brisbane last December, where he ran fifth in the Country Cups Challenge Final (1600m) at Doomben.
Maquereau nosed out Brilliant Mind over 1500m in Cairns three starts back, before barely firing a shot and beating one runner home in the Townsville Cup on August 7.
Despite looming as a big threat turning into the Cluden Park straight, he wilted to finish well back.
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In his last start, he provided the eye-catcher in the Cairns Cup (2100m), flashing home to make up nine positions and finish second, despite over-racing early and being held up near the turn.
D’Avila believed the gelding had excuses for his Townsville run, and hoped he could put up a bold showing on Saturday.
“In hindsight I may have pushed him a little as he had a foot abscess not long before the race and he seems to like Cairns a lot better than Townsville,” she said.
“It all comes down to luck in running in these sorts of races, but he’s drawn well and he’s even stronger in his work now.”
Jockey Lacey Morrison will take the reins, in a superstition of sorts, and will be chasing a third win aboard Maquereau.
“He was bred by Ben Ahrens at Beaudesert and Ben told me the other day his name is French for ‘pimp’,” D’Avila said.
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“It’s strange as all his five wins for me have been for girls – Kate Southam and Lacey Morrison.”
D’Avila scored with her sole runner on Friday’s Ladies Day, with Soldati getting the chocolates in the Benchmark 70 Handicap (1500m).
Meanwhile, Cairns Jockey Club president and prolific owner Tom Hedley had four winners, with three of them also giving Cairns trainer Stephen Massingham a treble.
Trainer expects a brilliant run as form lines stack up
Cairns trainer Stephen Massingham is confident recent form lines will hold Brilliant Mind in good stead in this Saturday’s Cairns Amateurs Cup, with the gelding beaten by a combined 0.6 lengths in his past three starts.
The six-year-old clashed with the Sharlee D’Avila-trained Maquereau three starts back when he was nosed out by 0.1 lengths over 1500m at Cairns on July 29.
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Two weeks later, Brilliant Mind finished 0.2 lengths behind the Janel Ryan-trained Tutelage in the Banana Cup (1800m) at Innisfail.
Both winners franked that form in the Cairns Cup two weeks ago, with Tutelage hitting the front in the shadows of the post to win, and Maquereau producing the run of the race to make up nine positions – from 11th into second – in a sizzling final 400m.
The performance was a further vote of confidence for Massingham, who had hoped to start Brilliant Mind in the Cairns Cup but narrowly missed out on getting him into the final field.
Brilliant Mind made it a hat-trick of seconds at Townsville last week, running 0.3 lengths behind Danawi over 1300m, with the result increasing his rating just enough to see him start in the Cairns Amateurs Cup on Saturday.
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“This week he makes it,” Massingham said.
“He’s pulled up good from his run at Townsville last week and I expect him to run well.
“Tutelage just beat him at Innisfail the start before and then came out and won the Cairns Cup, and two runs before that he ran second to Maquereau, which ran a really good race for second in the Cairns Cup.
“So that gives me a bit of confidence to know we’re going to be competitive.”
Experienced jockey Nathan Day will ride Brilliant Mind.
The son of So You Think boasts a champion pedigree, as a half-brother to Chris Waller’s former topliners Funstar and Youngstar.
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“His two sisters are superstars, both Group 1 winners, and one of them (Funstar) sold through the Inglis Digital sale about six weeks ago for $2.7m,” Massingham said.
“They were picked up by a big breeder in Japan – and he’s in Cairns.
“The girls got all the ability, but he’s a smart horse and he’s got a bit of character about him – I wouldn’t mind a stable full of him.”
Massingham took out the 2019 Cairns Amateurs Cup with The Harrovian, capping off a stellar campaign in which the cult horse also claimed the Cairns and Townsville cups before venturing south for a crack at metropolitan racing.
However, he said Brilliant Mind was unlikely to follow the same path.
“He probably lacks that bit of class to go south, but he’ll do a good job in the north that’s for sure,” he said.
Race-by-race tips and previews
Cairns Post sports reporter Rowan Sparkes previews every race for Saturday’s Cairns Amateurs Cup Day meeting at Cannon Park.
BEST BET:
Anniemariah (Race 2, No.2)
Has gone well on a softer track (4:2-1-1) and has very strong form at Cairns (3:2-0-1), including two-from-two over 1250m. Should be winning again.
NEXT BEST:
Doctor Zous (Race 6, No.1)
Coming off a win in the Cairns Newmarket (1400m) and has won four of 10 with the sting out of the ground, as well as seven of 13 as a favourite. Should be right in the finish.
VALUE BET:
Maquereau (Race 7, No.9)
Produced the run of the race in the Cairns Cup, finishing the strongest to come from 11th into second over a sizzling final 400m. Expect him to be right in the mix again.
ROUGHIE:
Hard Yaga (Race 4, No.2)
Faded to finish eighth last start at Cairns over 1250m but is worth a dabble at huge odds coming back to 950m. Has won or placed in four of six starts this track and distance.
QUADDIE:
Race 5: 1, 4, 5, 6
Race 6: 1, 2, 3, 8
Race 7: 3, 9, 10, 11, 13
Race 8: 4, 5, 6, 8
$100 flexi for 31.25 per cent
RACE 1 (1:01PM): STRADBROKE SEASON BRISBANE MAIDEN PLATE (1400M)
Lightly raced four-year-old 3. Desert Sundown did his best work late to finish second in his first and only start at Cairns three weeks ago. Looks ready to win after that performance and should be hard to hold out. 2. Dawn Strike placed in a Townsville trial last week, can be in the finish. 6. War Singa was five lengths behind the winner despite being hampered at the start last up at Cairns, outside hope. 5. Redenzo Roman has back-to-back placings including at long odds at Innisfail last start, one of the exotics.
SUGGESTED BET: Desert Sundown to win and box trifecta 3,2,6.
RACE 2 (1:36PM) - TATTERSALL’S QTIS THREE-YEAR-OLD HANDICAP (1250M)
2. Anniemariah scored a huge win over 1250m on a rain-affected track at Cairns two weeks ago. The three-year-old filly goes well on a softer track and has very strong form at Cairns. One of the main hopes and should be fighting out the finish. 1. Palencia won at Townsville in his only second-up attempt and has a perfect record when starting as the favourite, which he should do on Saturday. Put a line through 3. Vienna Cruise’s last start at Cairns after he was wide for much of the race, can feature with the right run. 4. Rustic Rocker flashed home for second over 1250m at Cairns two weeks ago, looks a chance in the small field.
SUGGESTED BET: Anniemariah to win and trifecta 1,2/1,2/3,4.
RACE 3 (2:11PM) - ROSS MOLLER MEMORIAL CLASS 3 PLATE (1250M)
4. Olindo led throughout for a dominant win last start at Cairns and can’t knock the form, winning two in a row at the track. The four-year-old gelding is chasing a hat-trick of wins and is capable of getting into the money again. One of the main hopes. 2. Matterhorn began awkwardly and overraced in middle stages when sixth at Cairns two weeks ago but still finished 2.5 lengths behind winner Ruby July, an outside chance. 1. Go Deep has two placings from three runs this prep, including last start second at Townsville, has some value. 7. Cadence has won two and placed three times in her last five starts, but might need an easier race.
SUGGESTED BET: Go Deep each-way for a value play and box trifecta 1,2,4.
RACE 4 (2:51PM) - CENTURY CRANES SIR WILLIAMS OBE CLASS 6 PLATE (950M)
6. Rigel has looked strong since returning from a spell at Townsville last month, running second first-up before getting the chocolates in a tight finish at Cairns three weeks ago. He is three-from-three over this track and distance and looks the biggest threat by a fair margin. 1. Chevaux returns after an 18-week spell and has won or placed in three of five first up, including at Cairns when last fresh. 7. Supposedly Wicked first-up after three months and was in good form before let-up, may need the run. 3. Sylvester ran fifth last start at Cairns on a soft track and was edged out in the shadows of the post at Innisfail the start before that, one for the exotics. 2. Hard Yaga faded to finish eighth last start at Cairns over 1250m but will have a better chance coming back to 950m, will need some luck in the run.
SUGGESTED BET: Rigel to win.
RACE 5 (3.31PM) - KENFROST HOMES CLASS 1 HANDICAP (1500M)
One of the toughest races on the card. 4. Forseti is a very interesting runner in his first run for Innisfail trainer Stephen Potiris. Comes here off a 49-day let-up after placing at Gilgandra in his last start. Apprentice claim should help and see him fighting out the finish.1. Gaelic should be racing up near the speed in a race without much early pace, has drawn wide but is still a live chance. 6. Stifling has the speed to overcome drawing the widest barrier and likes the sting taken out of the ground, won at Cairns five starts back. 2. Cunnamulla ran eight last start at Townsville and should be up on the speed with minimal pressure expected, a sneaky chance.
SUGGESTED BET: Cunnamulla each-way.
RACE 6 (4.11PM) - TAB CAIRNS AMATEURS SPRINT (1400M)
1. Doctor Zous was quite dominant taking out the Cairns Newmarket over 1400m three weeks ago, and produced a game effort to run second at Townsville the start before that. Does his best work on softer tracks and has been in top form of late, hard to go past. 2. Langhro was not far behind Doctor Zous in the Cairns Newmarket and meets her with a slight advantage in the weights, looms as a major threat again. 8. Let’s Go Bobby led throughout for a strong win last start at Cairns to make it three wins and two placings from her last five starts, big run wouldn’t shock. 3. Only Wanna Sing was third last start at Mackay over 1100m following an all-the-way win at Townsville, drop in weight is a big tick. 10. El Of A Saga chased strongly to win last start at Cairns and has very strong form at the track, winning five and placing in four of his 11 starts at Cannon Park, one at longer odds.
SUGGESTED BET: Doctor Zous to win and box trifecta 1,2,3
RACE 7 (4.46PM) - GREAT NORTHERN BREWING CO CAIRNS AMATEURS CUP (2100M)
9. Maquereau flashed home late to just miss at long odds in the Cairns Cup (2100m) two weeks ago, despite overracing early and being held up near the turn. The gelding has strong Cairns form, winning three and placing in two of five starts at the track. Was super impressive last start and there is reason to believe he will be right in the mix again. 11. Namazu is in strong form with three wins in five attempts this campaign and showed enough last start when fourth in the Cairns Cup to suggest he can take this out. 13. Brilliant Mind just missed out on a run in the Cairns Cup and will be primed to run a big race, should have the speed to overcome the wide gate. 3. Tutelage is shooting for a hat-trick after taking out the Cairns Cup and Innisfail’s Banana Cup, cannot be dismissed after coming from midfield to win the Cairns Cup two weeks back.
SUGGESTED BET: Maquereau each-way.
RACE 8 - YVONNE DE LACY MEMORIAL PATRON’S CUP BENCHMARK 60 HANDICAP (1900M)
4. City Smart was slowly away and held up near the 400m to just miss out when fourth at Cairns over 1900m three weeks ago. He has won over the 2000m at Doomben, in May 2020, before venturing north. Likely to settle back in the field and should be running on strong late. 6. Taikun Warrior showed plenty of promise when third over 1500m at Cairns two weeks ago, after he was wide in the race and the rider dropped the rein. 5. John Booke has placed in three runs from six this campaign and the rise in distance should suit. 7. Kingsbridge on a short seven-day back up after winning the Mareeba Cup over 2000m last weekend, just missed out over 1900m at Cairns three weeks ago, could upset.
SUGGESTED BET: City Smart each-way.
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