Warrnambool trainer Shane Jackson hit a purple patch over the long weekend with had two winners in three days capped by Flying Basil ($4.80) in Sunday’s $30,000 Hanging Rock Cup.
Flying Basil, a seven-year-old Magnus gelding having only his third start for Jackson, led all the way to cruise home by 2½ lengths from the Henry Dwyer-trained $1.60 favourite Friday At Five.
Jackson’s winning run started on Friday night when Highland Blaze ($13), also having his third start for the stable, won a $60,000 benchmark 70 over 3000 metres at The Valley.
Both winners were ridden by Jackson’s good mate Tom Madden.
Rule tipped to take over
Warrnambool’s Nick Rule looks likely to replace Sandy McGregor as the new chairman of the Australian Jumps Racing Association at its annual general meeting next Thursday.
Rule this week declined to confirm his candidacy but paid tribute to McGregor’s work.
“Sandy has done an outstanding job in tough times,” Rule said. “Undoubtedly, he’s been one of the driving forces behind the sport for many years.
“He’s made big financial commitments to jumps racing for years and should be congratulated for all the hard work he’s done to ensure the sport continues to flourish.”
Rule, a former Warrnambool Racing Club chair, has been on the AJRA committee for nearly 10 years.
Features boost Hamilton
Hamilton Racing Club is the big winner from the announcement of dates for the 2025 jumps season, according to president Hugh MacDonald.
The time-honoured Mosstropper Steeplechase and Brendan Drechsler Hurdle, originally staged at Bendigo and more recently at Pakenham, will be run for the first time at Hamilton on Sunday July 20.
MacDonald says it’s exciting news.
“We’re over the moon,” he said. “The two races will give us a strong foundation for a huge meeting.
“We’ve always rated our jumps track to be one of the best in the state and now we’ve been rewarded by having two of the big features at Hamilton.”
In other news, MacDonald revealed track manager Michael Hoy will stand down from the role in March, with assistant Colin Rendell to take up the job.
“Mick has decided to hand over the reins to Colin,” MacDonald said.
“Mick has done a sensational job but he always indicated he only wanted to work a few days a week.
“After discussions between them, Colin has decided to take the main job while Mick stays on.
“It’s a great result for the club as they’re both extremely hard workers and both do great jobs.”
Aaron earmarks three
Grand Annual Steeplechase-winning trainer Aaron Purcell has three horses in work for the 2025 jumps season but may add to that number as the season progresses.
Wilewink, Instigator and Farag are Purcell’s early hopes for the season.
“I’d say they’re our main hopes at this stage but things can turn around pretty quickly in this caper,” the Warrnambool-based trainer said.
“We’re putting the miles into their legs and they’re going really well.
“We’ve got another couple in the stable who might measure up but we’ll just wait and see how they’re going.”
Purcell has 20 horses in work overall at his Warrnambool base.
“We’ve got some nice young horses in the stable,” he said. “We’ll probably kick off their campaigns over the next few weeks.
“We’ve got a good mix of horses, which is really exciting for our owners.”
Purcell won the 2008 Grand Annual Steeplechase with Ginolad.