Cym-bolic victory at Ipswich

IT was an appropriate time of the year for the Meagher family to collect a win at Ipswich as Cymbalism saluted with Ronnie Stewart aboard.

FINE FEAT: Jockey Ronnie Stewart shows his delight after riding Cymbalism to victory at Ipswich racetrack. Picture: Rob Williams

TURF CHAT

IT was an appropriate time of the year for the Meagher family to collect a win at Ipswich as Cymbalism saluted with Ronnie Stewart aboard.

Cymbalism is trained by Chris Meagher, who is currently heading up the Meagher family training operations in Melbourne and Brisbane.

Chris' father John trained Melbourne Cup winner What a Nuisance back in 1985 for multiple Melbourne Cup winning owner Lloyd Williams.

In all, Williams has hoisted six Melbourne Cups including Green Moon (2012), Almandin (2016), and Rekindling (2017) in the past decade alone.

After relocating to Singapore 20 years ago for a decade, John Meagher returned to Australian training.

Just over a year ago, he took a step back from the training ranks, passing the reins to his son Chris.

In that time Chris Meagher has trained a total of 20 winners across the two locations at a handy strike rate of 11%.

Cymbalism made it a win a week for November as the Meagher training record continues to improve.

Lethal Lloyd rides on

QUEENSLAND champion jockey Jeff Lloyd took his season tally at Bundamba to 19 with another winning double last Wednesday.

After setting November as his retirement month, it appears that the master hoop will continue on indefinitely.

His winners were for two champion trainers - Auerbach for Chris Waller and Kemsrey for Tony Gollan in the final two races of the day.

The win of Kemsrey was the 14th for Gollan at Ipswich this season.

Another to have his 14th win at Ipswich last Wednesday was jockey Jim Byrne. He saluted aboard Conquermore for Brisbane trainer Desleigh Forster to give that trainer a well-deserved winning double.

Mark Du Plessis was the winner of the first leg aboard Desert Digby in the race to race double.

Demolition changes

THE long-awaited demolition of facilities to be replaced at the Ipswich Turf Club commenced last week and moved along quickly.

The beer garden, or pig pen to some, has been the source of many a beer being served and the kitchen / canteen many a plate of fish and chips.

This entire structure was demolished last week and the jockey and steward's rooms will shortly follow.

One outcome of this work commencement is a major logistical change at the club.

On non-racedays the reception is now on the trackside of the building and signage is currently being installed by Racing Queensland to direct patrons to that point.

When racing at Ipswich, the new raceday office is at the Jibboom Lounge entry close to the course patron entry. However quite a journey from the horse stalls for licensees.

This is the lone alternative given the boundary of the construction zone and patrons are asked for patience throughout the construction phase of the project.

Racing Queensland are also providing a number of signs to give directions as clearly as possible for those on course for racedays, whether members, owners, or licensees.

Next meetings

The final November race meeting at Ipswich is on Friday.

In December, there are strong bookings for Friday meetings on the 14th and 21st. Before those, there is a Wednesday meeting on December 5. The final December date for Ipswich is Friday 28th.

Originally published as Cym-bolic victory at Ipswich