Picnics: Tycoon triumph a Buchan beauty
By Joel Marshall, February 17, 2020 - 9:30 AM

A record crowd of more than 4000 rolled up to a memorable running of the 133rd Buchan Cup last Saturday.
Just weeks after much of the East Gippsland region was ravaged by raging bushfires, and the Buchan racecourse itself was burned and its facilities damaged, a race meeting that seemed so unlikely this time last month went ahead much to the joy of locals and the hundreds of visitors that had made the trek to Buchan for the weekend.
In a fitting result the $6000 Buchan Cup (1700m) was won by a Gippslander — the Sharyn Trolove-trained Tycoon Felix finishing over the top of his rivals to the cheers of the locals and those that backed him into a dominant odds-on favourite.
Ridden by Caitlin King, the Bundalaguah-trained seven-year-old has quickly found form on the picnic circuit this season, following his placing at Healesville on Feburary 1 with an easy 3½-length win at Woolamai on February 8.
Tycoon Felix, the younger half-brother to his promising stablemate Not Enough Effort, won three times at the professionals before beginning to battle in benchmark 58 grade prior to his picnic debut. Saturday was his fourth start in as many weeks, the son of Written Tycoon clearly loving his racing.
Toff too classy
Caitlin King was again the punters’ pal in the race after the cup when she piloted five-year-old gelding Angel Toff ($2.80 favourite) to a comfortable 2¾-length win over 1200 metres.
Trained by Ron Stephens at Garfield, Angel Toff (by Toorak Toff from a Redoute’s Choice great granddaughter of Eight Carat) has been in career-best form this season. He broke his maiden at start 27 by winning at Balnarring and he won there again three starts later. Saturday’s victory was his third all told at start 33.
King’s double took her season tally to nine, which places her in seventh spot on the jockeys premiership. 
A Buchan winner to leader Max Keenan saw his tally rise to 18, four more than Shaun Cooper, Grant Seccombe (who notched a double at Buchan) and Leigh Taylor, but Keenan and Cooper had their day soured by suspensions.
Both hoops can ride at this weekend’s double-header at Woolamai and Yea, with Keenan to miss two meetings thereafter and Cooper one.
Blues cruise
Max Keenan had to wait until the final race on the card to notch his winner, steering home the Jackson Pallot-trained The Blues Brother ($3.40) to a three-quarter-length victory in the 1200-metre open trophy.
Having start number 63 the Hussonet seven-year-old notched the ninth win of his career and his second for Pallot after leaving the Moruya stables of Steve Stephens earlier this season.
The win denied leading trainer Troy Kilgower and jockey Grant Seccombe a treble on the program after the pair had won the first two races. The Kilgower-trained Lizzy’s Kid chased home The Blues Brother while Zai Bu Zai filled third, the ninth consecutive top-three finish for that mare this season.
Early joy for Troy
Troy Kilgower came out of the Buchan meeting having added to his already substantial tally of firsts, seconds and thirds at the picnics this season. 
The Sale trainer’s ninth and 10th wins of the season (he’s also had 15 seconds and 20 thirds) came up early in the day when Spun Dice broke his maiden and then Dominant Way broke a run of 10 outs.
Spun Dice was on debut for Kilgower, having placed twice in 10 starts for Mick Kent and then failed to flatter in two runs for Alan Keenan. 
The weakness of the 1000-metre maiden field saw the Hard Spun mare run a $1.90 favourite and she had 2¼ lengths to spare on Bon Hoffa mare Bon Torr Mor, who showed versatility by placing over the short course, having finished runner-up over 2000 metres at Balnarring five weeks earlier.
Dominant Way has proved inconsistent since joining Kilgower in early 2019. He won at Healesville in November last year (at his third start for the stable), but had been placed in just three of 10 starts since.
Still, the Oamaru Force six-year-old started a $2.90 second favourite to win the open trophy over 1000 metres, which he took out by a length and three-quarters.
Kilgower’s Merton Cup winner Johnny Romance filled third place in the Buchan Cup later in the day.
Cat by a whisker
The day’s tightest finish came in race three, where less than a length separated the first five home.
The restricted trophy over 1700 metres saw the relatively unexposed Catbluroo carry top weight of 67kg despite being an unplaced maiden from four starts.
Trained at Cranbourne by Jaymee Cockram, the four-year-old son of Strategic Maneuver proved too strong on his picnic debut, winning by half a length under Dani Walker.
Catbluroo ($9) wasn’t fancied by punters to turn around his form in a race where he gave away plenty of experience (his seven rivals had conmpiled 149 starts between them), but the handicapper was proved right.
The Alan Keenan-trained Pistol got closest on the line. The gelding, part-owned by Winning Post columnist Matt Stewart, seems not far off notching his first win on the circuit this season. (He won back-to-back races in March 2019.)

 

Today's Racing
Friday 29 March
Saturday 30 March
Sunday 31 March
Social Networking