Gary Clarke and Jarrod Todd find more success in stunning Darwin Cup win

The trainer-jockey duo of Gary Clarke and Jarrod Todd have pulled off the rare Palmerston Sprint – Darwin Cup double, after a daring and emotional run on Cup day.

THE trainer-jockey duo of Gary Clarke and Jarrod Todd have pulled off the rare Palmerston Sprint – Darwin Cup double, after a daring and emotional run on Cup day.

When Playoffs drew the widest barrier it looked like an uphill battle for the pair and the young six-year-old.

But the duo, who had also won three earlier races in the day, as well as the Alice Springs Cup, kept the gelding out of trouble.

Todd moved the young up-and-comer forward out of the first straight and from there did enough to give Playoffs enough of a chance — so that when it hit the closing straight it was ahead.

The gelding held its position to the line, holding off the Neil Dyer-trained Kaonic, ridden by John Keating, by two lengths.

Completing the podium was Playoffs’ stablemate Vallabar, with hoop Anthony Darmanin aboard, while Jason Manning’s Noir De Rue took out fourth place.

Gary Clarke hugs his wife Sharlene and daughter Ella after his horse Playoffs wins the Darwin Cup 2022. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

For the champion trainer it was his fourth Darwin Cup, having won one as a jockey and now holding three wins as a trainer.

“It was a big win. A race like that isn’t something you do with just one or two months of planning, it takes six months,” Clarke said.

“What you need to do in a race like this is stay out of trouble.

“I knew he had the ability to win it, the only unknown factor was if he had the speed coming out the gates.

“It’s pretty good to get the double. They don’t come around often, I did it a couple of years ago with Captain Punch and Zahspeed.

“It’s been a very hard year, but we’ve had good people around us and good staff that sort of helped us through.

“We’ve had good help all the way through.”

Todd called the win a very special occasion for himself and the Clarke family, who he credited for the amount of work they put in.

“It’s pretty special, it’s pretty special for Gary and the family who lost their son earlier in the year. I couldn’t be happier with the result,” Todd said.

“I put in a fair work to get here, but nothing like Gary and Sharlene who deal with everything they can and I’m just lucky enough to pilot the horses.

“Playoffs held a strong gallop. He could have gone another 200m and still won it, so a really good run from the horse.”

‘A really significant race’: Wiseman honours fallen hoop

CHAMPION Territory trainer Gary Clarke has cleaned up at Fannie Bay Racecourse with a trio of victories in the lead-up to his Darwin Cup win.

The triple treat came just days after Clarke and his top class jockey Jarrod Todd claimed the master trainer’s fifth Palmerston Sprint with Syncline on Saturday afternoon.

After an admittedly slow start at Darwin Turf Club on Monday, Todd guided home a number of winners for Clarke, with five-year-old geldings Rising Sphere in the 1100m race three TAB Handicap before We Will Remember saluted in race five, the 1600m Australian Turf Club Handicap.

Then, in the 1300m race seven Labrokes Handicap, his five-year-old gelding The Mistral made it a treble for the Clarke-Todd combination, two lengths ahead of its nearest rival in Overruled and then Caitlin’s Angel in front of more than 11,000 spectators.

“It’s been pretty good,” Clarke said of his day’s work after his race seven victory.

“We knew we had a lot of chances today but until you get them, anything can happen in a race.

“The first couple of races didn’t really go to plan, but since then everything’s been pretty good.”

Jess Gleeson with jockey Sonja Wiseman and Dan Morgan after their race four win. Picture: Ben Cameron

Meanwhile, female jockey Sonja Wiseman guided home the Jess Gleeson-trained Glock in race four’s 1000m Seppelt Montgomerie Lightning Plate, ahead of Belmont Day and Mini Boom.

Wiseman said she was proud to win the race named in honor of the late jockey Simone Montgomerie who died in a fall almost nine years ago at Fannie Bay.

“It is a really significant race on the day,” Wiseman told the NT News after her win.

“Obviously we lost her and it’s a big thing to come out and win a race when you’ve got a lot of people here to support her, and who she was as a person.

Trainer Gary Clarke had four wins at the 2022 Darwin Cup. Picture: (A) manda Parkinson.

Festivities kicked off at Fannie Bay with Anthony Darmanin steering six-year-old Mister Monaro to victory over Clarke’s Global Wonder by three-and-a-half lengths in the 1200m race one, the Schweppes Handicap.

Clarke then scored a fifth in race two with Akoni, which was won by Tayarn Halter-trained Don’t Say It in a stunning from-behind victory in the 1200m Harvey Norman Trobis Handicap.

Jockey Paul Shiers kept his nerve in the closing straight to pull ahead of Tommy Logan’s Blueberry Boy.

In race six, it was jubilation for the Phil Cole stable when Wayne Davis rode Saccharo to victory by three-and-a-half lengths, beating Clarke’s favourite Wolfburn in the 1600m G H Mumm Handicap.

Greg Connor’s Flying Start, with last year’s Darwin Cup-winning jockey on board Jessie Philpot, took out the 1300m race eight Magic Millions Handicap by one-and-a-half lengths while Paul Denton on Desert Lass claimed race nine with ease, streets ahead of his nearest rival in the 2050m Silks Darwin Handicap.

Originally published as Gary Clarke and Jarrod Todd find more success in stunning Darwin Cup win