Defending champ Shaun Cooper looks to have sewn up this season’s Victorian picnic jockeys’ premiership with five wins from nine rides across last weekend’s double-header at Alexandra and Woolamai.
Cooper was dominant at Alex, taking four of the six races, then prevented a clean sweep for the women at Woolamai when he took the last race, a 1608-metre open trophy, on $2.10 favourite Cent To War for Cranbourne trainer Yvonne Harvey.
(Mind you, there were no female riders in that race following the scratching of Caitlin King’s mount, Sarwatte.)
Cooper kicked off his weekend by riding three of the first four winners at Alex — The Oyster ($1.65 favourite) for Seymour’s Lee Hunter, Sunshine Reggae ($3.20) for Wangaratta’s Russell Green and Epsom Magic ($4) for Cranbourne-based Daniel Williams.
He didn’t have a ride in the third, a 1300-metre maiden won by Jack Virgona on Pindari Point for Sale trainer Paul Worthington.
Pindari Point hadn’t beaten a runner home at his last two starts at the professionals, but his SP of $5.50 looks like luxury in hindsight.
Worthington has now had six runners at the picnics this season for five wins, the other four coming with Jenni Of Avalon (who was also his only beaten runner for 2023/24).
She completed a double for Worthington when she won the Alexandra Cup (1540m) as a $3.20 favourite, ridden by Cooper’s main premiership rival, Dylan Dean.
Cooper bounced straight back, taking the get-out stakes on Laststrikeyourout for Mornington’s Nicole Dickson.
His Woolamai winner extended his lead over Dean to 11, with just three meetings remaining — Healesville this Saturday, Balnarring and Swifts Creek over the Easter weekend.
A couple for Clayfield
It wasn’t just the female riders who had a day out at Woolamai on Sunday. Most of the bookies probably did pretty well too, with only the first and last favourites successful.
Angela Bence got the punters off to a good start with $2.50 favourite Little Brother, trained at Sale by Brent Butcher.
Little Brother prevailed in a photo after a ding-dong stuggle at the end of 2008 metres with fellow Gippsland gelding Bonza Boots, who was backing up from his win in the previous Saturday’s Hinnomunjie Cup.
Riding honours for the meeting went to apprentice Sophie Clayfield, who scored on Bunkerdown ($13) in the sprint maiden for Mornington’s Rory Hunter and Whiskey Jack ($7.50) for Cranbourne’s David Noonan in the 2008-metre open trophy.
The double saw Clayfield rise to fifth on the jockeys’ table with 11 wins for the season at the admirable strike rate of 25.
In between those two races the Rob Gillahan-trained Doctor Coto ($5) franked the Hinnomunjie form when he backed up with a victory over 1008 metres. Caitlin King was the winning rider.
Earlier, Maddison Morris scored over the same trip on More Than Involved ($4) for Pakenham trainer Barry Goodwin.
More Than Involved denied victory to $2.90 favourite Centrefold Star, who was aiming to get Troy Kilgower level with Don Dwyer on the trainers’ table.
Unusually, neither Dwyer nor Kilgower had a winner over the double-header weekend, leaving Dwyer with a 13-12 advantage heading into the home straight.