Lingani thunders home in Lightning Stakes as Will Clarken and Niki O’Shea claim Adelaide trainers’ premiership

Will Clarken and Niki O’Shea were denied in the feature Lightning Stakes at Morphettville but the training duo couldn’t be stopped on their way to the Adelaide premiership.

Lingani hits the line strongly to win the Listed Lightning Stakes at Morphettville. Picture: Makoto Kaneko

Peter and Belinda Blanch are now pondering their next target with Lingani, who thundered home to snare the Listed Lightning Stakes (1050m) at Morphettville on Saturday.

The sharp filly charged through the field under a smart steer from Dom Tourneur to hold off Group 1 placegetter Kuroyanagi, and it was heart in mouth viewing for trainer Peter Blanch.

“She just keeps giving her all. It was a little bit of a watch, wasn’t it?” Blanch said.

“She just needed to get a run at the top of the straight – it closed – she went back to the inside and picked herself up. She’s got this really good will to just pick herself up and hit the line, it’s magic, absolutely magic.”

Kuroyanagi and Magic Millions winner Arabian Summer headlined an impressive Lightning Stakes field, but Blanch was confident that Saturday’s soft track conditions would favour his filly.

Lingani from the clouds! 😮@domjock nails the ride & wins the Lightning Stakes! ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/GInMKUrdPA

— Racing.com (@Racing) July 27, 2024

“We really liked the fact the track was playing a bit heavy, we thought it may knock out a few (that) we had the fitness edge on, we were keen but we were having a throw at the stumps and we were happy to do that,” he said.

“I’m really happy for this group of owners, they bred her, it’s a long trip, congratulations to Roslyn Day too and the whole crew.”

The three-year-old filly was set to contend summer sprint races in Adelaide, but the stable may now aim a little higher following Saturday’s stakes win.

It was a groundbreaking day for Will Clarken and Niki O’Shea, notching a double that saw them claim a maiden Adelaide trainers’ premiership with 45 wins for the season over Richard and Chantelle Jolly (43).

Sachem and Second To Nun saluted for Clarken and O’Shea, with Second To Nun’s flying finish to run down the Jolly-trained Karacasu almost embodying the premiership battle itself.

“What it means to the staff and everyone around us, maybe means more to me personally, it’s been a long, hard season,” Clarken said.

“We’ve trained consistently well, we’ve changed so many things up. I’m so proud of Niki and how he’s come on-board, we’ve had to adapt different systems and work through it.

“The support we’ve had the last week, my phone this morning was lit up, it was a bit of a David and Goliath battle the whole way, we started off with half the horses and ended up getting the chocolates – it’s a fantastic result.”

Will Clarken (left) and Niki O'Shea (right) celebrate winning the Adelaide trainers' premiership. Picture: Makoto Kaneko

Young gun Rochelle Milnes didn’t waste any time in securing the metro apprentice title, scoring wins aboard Chosen Miss (race one) and Exalted Ruth (race three) for Murray Bridge trainer Garret Lynch.

The double saw Milnes reach 26 wins for the season, two clear of fellow apprentice Maggie Collett who saluted in race four.

Milnes now has 82 wins overall in the state jockeys’ premiership, seven behind leader Jake Toeroek (89).

Toeroek wasn’t able to add to his 47 metro wins on Saturday, finishing one shy of last year’s tally, but has sewn up back-to-back Adelaide jockeys’ premierships, and his seven-win lead in the state premiership looks an unassailable one.

“It’s (state premiership) something I wanted to do, originally I just wanted to beat Kayla (Crowther), she was winning the statewide (premiership) all the time,” Toeroek said.

“I was lucky enough to win both of them this year, I’ve got a great team behind me in the Jolly’s which definitely helps.”

Lynch and Clarken-O’Shea (two wins each) shared training honours on the nine-race card, while talented hoop Lachlan Neindorf booted home a double to claim riding honours with Milnes.

Originally published as Lingani thunders home in Lightning Stakes as Will Clarken and Niki O’Shea claim Adelaide trainers’ premiership