Western Victoria: Phone runs hot after cracker carnival
By Tim Auld, May 21, 2018 - 1:01 PM

Everyone loves a winner — just ask Warrnambool trainer Symon Wilde.
Wilde, who trained five winners at his home town’s three-day carnival earlier this month including Gold Medals in the Brierly and Grand Annual Steeplechases, said enquiries from prospective owners had been pouring in.
“We’ve been very busy since the carnival,” Wilde said. “We purchased three yearlings from New Zealand and five at the Inglis Premier sale and all the shares have gone. 
“We’ve got a few shares left in a couple of yearlings from the VOBIS Gold sale. 
“A bloke from overseas phoned up and wanted us to train his horse, which was formerly trained in Brisbane.
“A lot of the credit goes back to our staff — they all do great jobs.”
The Wilde juggernaut continued at Casterton on Sunday with the stable producing Tommy Standup to win the final race on the program.
Casterton claims extra date
The hard-working Casterton Racing Club committee is leaving no stone unturned to make its race meetings bigger and better. 
More than 2400 people attended the Casterton Cup meeting last Sunday, an increase of more than 150 on last year — surprising given the wet weather.
The Casterton Racing Club was one of the finalists in country Racing Victoria’s Club of the Year award last season.
President Bruce Miller says he’s excited about the direction the club is headed.
“We’ve got a great committee who put in lots of time and effort to ensure the club is successful,” he said. 
“We’ve got three meetings this year but we’ve already been told we’ll have four meetings next season. 
“That’s a great reward for the hard work.”
Casterton races again on June 30.
Tough by name …
Koroit trainer James McNamara said three runs in nine days would have little impact on Tough Vic, and the four-year-old backed him up by winning a restricted race at Casterton on Sunday.
“Tough Vic just seems to thrive on racing,” McNamara said following the victory. 
“He’s one tough horse and he’d eat a house. 
“We’ve only had him since last August. My son Brad encouraged me to pay the $7000 for him at a mixed sale. 
“Tough Vic has already been a good buy and we still haven’t got to the bottom of him. There’s a lot more improvement in him.”
Tough Vic earnt $11,000 with his win at Casterton.
Cougar on prowl
Jumps jockey Brad McLean wasn’t getting carried away with the win of Cougar Express in a restricted hurdle at Casterton.
Cougar Express beat Flying Casino and Nimbostratus to win the 3480-metre race.
The victory made it a double for Cougar Express, who is trained by McLean’s brother Jarrod and was coming off a maiden hurdle win at Warrnambool on May 1.
“I really like Cougar Express but I’m not getting carried away at this stage,” McLean said. 
“I think Jarrod will just take him along slowly. He’s a nice horse and with time may develop into a nice jumper.”
The ex-WA galloper won the 2016 Bunbury and Kalgoorlie cups before joining the McLean stable just over a year ago.
Happy returns
Veteran Mount Gambier trainer Michael O’Leary celebrated his 76th birthday by leading his galloper Emil into the winner’s stall at Casterton on Sunday. 
“I’ve always had a bit of an opinion of Emil,” O’Leary said. “We’ve just given him time to develop and mature. 
“I think there might be a nice race in him one day. It’s great to train a winner on my birthday. 
“I’ve been lucky enough to have trained plenty of winners at Casterton over the years including six cup winners so it’s always been one of my favourite tracks.”
O’Leary said he was undecided when Emil would have his next start.
No joy for Gai
Australia’s greatest female trainer, Gai Waterhouse, has set many records during her illustrious career in racing and added another couple of interesting snippets for the trivia buffs at the Casterton meeting. 
Waterhouse, who was not on track for the Casterton Cup meeting, had her first two runners (in partnership with Adrian Bott) at the picturesque racecourse and both were in jumping races. The well backed Multitude ran second in a maiden hurdle while her tough jumper Valediction lost his jockey in an action-packed steeplechase.
Hill next for Guizot
Warrnambool trainer Aaron Purcell was upbeat about the run of Guizot at Flemington last Saturday. The Irish-bred galloper ran third behind Éclair Calling in the 1600-metre race. 
“Guizot finished the race off strongly,” Purcell said. “He’s a nice type of horse who looks to have a good future. His next run should be in the Swan Hill Cup on June 10.”
Guizot has won three of his 25 starts.

 

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