Todd Pannell has reeled in long-time leader Jessica Eaton in the Adelaide jockeys’ premiership, scoring a treble at Murray Bridge last Saturday to leave the riders locked at 57 wins apiece.
Pannell’s treble took him to 98 wins overall for the season.
He landed the first of last Saturday’s wins on Divine Prophet filly Bleriot ($1.90 favourite), who won the two-year-olds’ benchmark 68 over 1200 metres to make it two wins from five starts.
Giving Will Clarken the first leg of a training double, Bleriot settled well in third place before racing right away to win by seven lengths.
She will likely have her next start in the listed Oaklands Plate over 1400 metres on the Morphettville Parks track on July 17.
Pannell brought up the second leg of his treble when the Phillip Stokes-trained last-start winner Too Good Too Hard ($4.40) won the 1200-metre benchmark 84.
Coming from near last, the All Too Hard mare was running her last race. Described by assistant trainer Tommy Stokes as one of the most popular horses in the stable, Too Good Too Hard will be offered at the Inglis Great Southern sale early next month after a racing career of 19 starts for six wins and $272,626.
Pannell finished the day off well when Great Diviner ($3.80) came from midfield to complete Clarken’s double in the benchmark 60 over 1200 metres.
On a rare off-season day when no apprentice saluted the judge, senior jockeys Jason Holder and Barend Vorster rode two winners apiece.
Holder notched the first leg of a running double when Exalted Fire ($19) took out the benchmark 68 over 1600 metres.
Coming off a third on the Parks circuit, the Grant Young-trained Exalted Fire powered home from worse than midfield.
The Grant Kluske Atomic Lokade ($16) came from near last to complete Holder’s double in the benchmark 64 over 1000 metres, running over the top of $1.85 favourite Hills to win by two lengths.
Vorster opened his account when the Zoustar gelding Zoist ($4.80) resumed with victory in the 1400-metre benchmark 64.
Zoist was impressive running on from midfield position for co-trainer Tony and Calvin McEvoy, the win coming hot on the heels of news that McEvoy Mitchell Racing is putting its SA Riverland property Kildalton Park on the market.
Stawell trainer Andrew Bobbin, who played one NRL game for the St George Illawarra Dragons and learnt the racing trade working for Gai Waterhouse and Matthew Cumani, provided Vorster’s second winner — Scottish Dancer ($4.20), who was on pace throughout in winning the benchmark 76 over 1600 metres.
Another SA trainer in the news last weekend was Gordon Richards, whose star sprinter Gytrash will fill the Inglis slot in this year’s Everest.
Richards had further reason to smile when Caitlin Jones brought Spinola Bay ($2.70) from well back to take out the three-year-olds’ maiden plate over 1000 metres.
A couple for Karl
Karl Zechner took the points at Port Augusta on Sunday with a double, winning on the Darren Bonetti-prepared Zipadee and the Dennis O’Leary-trained Rex Goliath, who charged home to take out the 1867-metre Squatters Cup.

Darren dazzles on debut
Jason Holder and Dom Tourneur shared the riding honours with a double apiece at Murray Bridge on Wednesday
Holder had back-to-back winners with the Gordon Richards-trained Super Looka ($8) in a three-year-old maiden over 1400 metres and the Phillipe Huserot-trained Applied ($61) in a division of the Class 1/maiden over 1800 metres. Toueneur’s won on Effortkat ($3.50) for Shayne Cahill in a 1000-metre maiden Celtic Valour ($3.20 favourite) for Peter Blanch in the other division of the Class 1/maiden plate.
A further highlight was Darren McLeod winning at his first race ride, on the Grant Young-trained Pentelligentsia ($4.40) in the benchmark 120 steeplechase (3360m).