Veteran Warrnambool trainer Merv McKenzie is thinking of returning to town with A Good Yarn after the 10-year-old’s win in 0-58 company over 1000 metres at Colac on Saturday.
With expat Irish jockey Tom Madden in the saddle, A Good Yarn ($3.40) came home over the top of his rivals from behind the pace to beat Carry On Camping by three-quarters of a length, with $3.20 favourite Factually another 1¼ lengths away third.
The win was A Good Yarn’s first since July 2020 but McKenzie said the gelding had been unlucky numerous times in the interim.
“He’s just been an honest horse for his connections,” McKenzie said.
“He’s run well without any luck at a few of his recent runs.
“He’s a difficult horse to place because of his consistency. There’s not many races on the calendar for him.
“His favoured distance is about 1000 metres. We’ll probably have to take him back to Moonee Valley for one of those 955-metre races next start but we’ll just see how he pulls up.”
The 82-year-old trainer, who has two horses in work, praised Madden’s ride.
“Tom’s a very underrated jockey,” McKenzie said. “The horse drew a tricky barrier and Tom didn’t do a thing wrong. I thought it was a very good ride.”
From his 51 starts A Good Yarn has seven races, 15 minor placings and $227,630 in earnings.
Shine worth the wait
Late-developing mare Shine On Design rewarded her connections’ patience by winning a 1000-metre maiden on debut at the Colac meeting.
Trained locally by Daryl Cannon and bred by passionate racing fan Doug Zappelli, Shine On Design ($9) hung on to beat Villainesque and Petra Stellam.
Cannon said the four-year-old Magnus mare had taken time to mature.
“She was a bit of hard work early on,” he said. “She was a bit flighty.
“She’s very fast and we’ll keep her to 1000 metres for now.
“We were quietly confident she’d run well but you never know what happens to first- starters, especially when they’ve drawn a wide barrier.
“I thought the ride (by Alana Kelly) was very good.”
Shine On Design picked up $14,850 for the win.
Lafferty in the last
Ex-Warrnambool jockey Laura Lafferty would have KOd a few quaddie punters last Saturday when she won the last at Benalla on $31 pop Golwen for Swan Hill trainer Helen Burns.
It was Lafferty’s first ride on Golwen, who has had 58 starts for five wins. Burns is the seven-year-old’s fifth trainer.
Lafferty, 26, is making her way as a senior jockey after spending most of her four-year apprenticeship indentured to her Warrnambool-based father, Peter.
“I’ve moved on to the next stage of my career,” she said this week.
“I was so lucky to have had such great support from lots of trainers and owners when I was an apprentice. They were just so loyal to me.
“They’re long days, being a jockey, with early-morning starts riding trackwork to getting home from the races late at night and doing it all again the next day.
“It’s like you’re on a big merry-go-round and it just keeps on going.
“I’m one of the lucky jockeys as I really don’t have weight problems but you’ve always got to manage it.”
Lafferty has ridden 142 winners including 25 on metropolitan tracks.
Black-booker
Cranc: resumed with a big run in 0-58 company at Colac, with the stewards noting he had trouble gaining a clear run around the home turn. The Fighting Sun gelding looks ready to notch his first win for Warrnambool’s Pat McKenna, since crossing from the Maher/Eustace stable.