There were some fantastic stories to come out of last weekend’s huge double-header of picnic action in Victoria, which featured the Dederang Cup and the first running of the Sister Olive St Pat’s Cup at Yea.
Dual licence-holder Tyson Barton stole the show at Dederang when he trained the cup winner to follow in the footsteps of his mother, Angela, who did likewise back in 1998.
Twenty-seven years after Angela Barton saddled up Ophilos Mu to win the cup by 3½ lengths under Katie Thompson, Tyson gang-tackled this year’s race with three runners in the seven-horse field and came up trumps when eight-year-old gelding Star of Mattner ($8) bounced back to form.
His half-length win with Rowan Cox in the saddle was a turnaround on recent efforts, with the gelding unplaced in five starts since his win on New Year’s Day at Merton.
100 up for old firm
Star of Mattner’s fourth career win came at the expense of Don Dwyer’s in-form Pine Valley and jockey Shaun Cooper, but that formidable pair were to have a milestone moment at Yea 24 hours later.
Dwyer and Cooper combined for their 100th winner together when Smart Ace notched a deserved win on the back of consistent form.
It was his first win from eight runs this term, but he’d been placed five times.
They’re great mates, Don and Shaun, and more importantly good blokes, so their milestone moment was well received and I’m sure there are many more winners to come.
Cooper is on track to win a sixth premiership following his weekend double. He is on 23 wins, six more than nearest rival Leigh Taylor. Dwyer (10 wins) remains a chance of taking the training title, currently five behind Troy Kilgower with seven meetings remaining.
Eight is enough
Leading trainer Troy Kilgower took the training honours at Yea with two wins including the first running of the Sister Olive St Pat’s Cup, the amalgamation of two feature races previously run two months apart.
The race retained the 3000-metre distance of the Sister Olive and it saw the five-year-old Holler gelding Eight Shout’s ($7) win his second race, his first since joining the stable 12 months ago.
Seven-year-old mare Peace Process finished second, as she did in the 2022 Sister Olive, while 2024 St Pat’s Cup and 2023 Sister Olive winner All Too Creedy finished third.
Elsewhere on the Yea card Lord Cat (third win for the season) and Annoy’en One (win number four) kept alive their chances in the race for Horse of the Year. The pair trail five-time winners Lika Mosh and Spirit Maker.
Two for Tom
Young Frenchman Tom Brassart took riding honours at Dederang on Saturday with two wins and a second from three rides.
With ambitions to continue a professional apprenticeship that began in his homeland, Brassart has kicked off his race-riding stint in Australia at the picnics, beginning with a bang at the start of the season with three wins from as many rides.
The lightweight was able to take a full 3kg off the Don Dwyer-trained Wilma Wombat on Saturday. That brought her impost down to 60kg (8½kg less than the runner-up), helping her to record her third win for the season.
Brassart then teamed up with Philip Campbell to win on the five-year-old Cable Bay mare Hibernia Queen ($8)
Soon-to-be professional apprentice Dylan Dean partnered runner-up Leon’s Shout, getting consolation in the final race with a win on Rockbarton Shout ($2.60 favourite), trained by Andrew Dale.
Dale bookended the card, having taken the first with Manalore ($2.20 favourite), a nine-length winner.