A bumper crowd of more than 2000 flocked to the Wean Picnic Cup races last Saturday while there was a stack of tight finishes among the six races.
One trainer and one jockey had two wins apiece, with all bar one of the races having a margin below 1.3 lengths between the winner and runner-up.
Gilgandra-based Kieren Hazelton trained the winning horses in races four and six, while the Tamworth-based Todd Bailey rode the first-placed horses in races two and six.
Race five was the feature race, with Julia Presits the winning trainer and Leandro Ribeiro the winning jockey.
Another highlight was a soon-to-be 13-year-old gelding winning race two.
The first two races were 1000m, and the following two were 1200m before the final two were 1600m on a track rated a Firm 2.
The Sue Bigg-trained and Paul Zerafa-ridden Winning Statement lived up to its name in the opening race, winning by 0.68 of a length in a field of six after being the third favourite.
Nearing 13 years of age, the Bailey-ridden and Connie Greig-trained Billy Bent Ear won the next race by 0.23 of a length after being the second favourite in a field of seven while the runner-up was another Greig-trained horse.
Race three had a field of just four while the favourite, Freedom To Roam, won by 1.26 lengths. Freedom To Roam’s trainer was Holly Williams while the jockey was Sarah Curtis.
The second of the 1200m races had the closest finish, as a mere 0.19 of a length separated the top two placegetters in a field of nine.
The winner was the fourth favourite, Big Shot Legend, trained by Hazelton and ridden by Grady Spokes.
An equal-second favourite won the feature race by 1.09 lengths in a field of eight, to maintain a superb record in picnic races this year.
The Muswellbrook-based Avoid Me had won at Tomingley and Mudgee, before adding Wean to the list.
The final race at Wean had a field of four, with equal-favourite Jetpack Verdi producing a win for the Hazelton-Bailey combination while the margin was a convincing 3.39 lengths.
Wean Amateur Picnic Race Club president Robert Groth said it was “a very big day” while buses came from Gunnedah, Narrabri, Tamworth and Forster.
The newest features for Wean were the inflatable chicken suit races and the premium trackside marquees, both of which proved very popular.
Mr Groth said “all I heard was good reports” as people were very well-behaved while there were no complaints.
Amid a broad age range among the crowd, Mr Groth said there was a strong contingent of people aged from 18 to 40 while those involved in the Fashions on the Field were “exceptionally well-dressed”.
Mr Groth said the food vans and coffee van “did exceptionally well” while the overall feedback from trainers, jockeys and spectators was excellent.
The Wean Amateur Picnic Race Club president thanked everyone involved for making it a great day, and he said hopefully next year would be even bigger and better.
