Winning double for two jockeys

Clayton Gallagher had a day to remember at this year’s Christmas Hams race day at Riverside Racecourse, as he won two races including the feature race last Saturday.

Moree born and bred with more than 500 wins to his name, Gallagher rode the winning horse in the third and sixth races while Jake Pracey-Holmes of Gulgong also won two races.

Three other jockeys won one race each while seven different trainers achieved one victory apiece as the third, fourth and seventh races were won by the favourite.

There were some thrilling finishes as the winning margin was half-a-length or less on four occasions.

The first three races were 1000m, before a 1300m race was followed by two 1600m races and a 1250m race on a track rated a Good 4.

Having ridden the bookies’ favourite in the first three races, Gallagher had to settle for a second and a third placing before he regained his winning ways.

In the opening race, the Gallagher-ridden and Tim McIntosh-trained Myalaby finished runner-up to the second favourite as the Cody Morgan-trained and Siena Grima-ridden Close My Eyes won by 0.4 of a length in a field of 12.

The Gallagher-ridden Antisocial placed third in race two, while the victor was again the second favourite.

Race two was Pracey-Holmes’s first triumph of the day, as the Dean Smith-trained King’s Gold won by 2.5 lengths in a field of seven.

Race three had a field of eight, with the Gallagher-ridden and Holly Williams-trained Up The Country winning by half a length.

Having been the second favourite in race four, the Gallagher-ridden and Morgan-trained Cossack Warrior finished half a length behind the favourite and first placegetter in a field of 14 while another horse also finished half a length behind the winner.

Cossack Warrior and Yanabah were virtually neck-and-neck as the finish line approached when Pensativa, trained by Lou Mary and ridden by Pracey-Holmes, flashed by on the outside to pinch victory.

As race five had a field of 13, the seventh favourite prevailed while the Gallagher-ridden A Tent Hut placed fourth after being the third favourite.

The Michael Mulholland-trained and Serg Lisnyy-ridden Autumn Song won the race by half a length.

Race six was the feature race – the Boggabri Coal Operations Christmas Cup – which contained a field of eight while the winning margin was the most comprehensive of the seven races.

The second favourite placed first while the favourite placed second, as the Gallagher-ridden and Lyle Chandler-trained Sonic Tycoon finished 3.7 lengths ahead of the Craig Martin-trained and Kody Nestor-ridden Tavros.

The final race had a field of 11, with the Sue Grills-trained and Jack Baker-ridden Eighty Eight Stars winning by 1.2 lengths.

Gunnedah trainer Sally Torrens had a sixth placing in the feature race while her other placings on the day were third, fifth, fifth and seventh.

Another Gunnedah trainer, Gavin Groth, also had a third placing while his other results were sixth, seventh, eighth and 12th.

TOP: Clayton Gallagher rides Sonic Tycoon to victory in the feature race.