Picnic legend Reg Manning bagged his 31st Hinnomunjie Cup (Alec Manning Memorial) as a jockey or trainer when his tough veteran Anything But went back-to-back in the 150th running of the picnic calendar highlight.
Manning thus made it four straight wins in the race honouring his late father and fellow picnic legend Alec, having won it with Cheeky Prince in 2023 and Bonza Boots in 2024.
Anything But was having his 16th start for the season, and his sixth in a cup race on the picnic circuit. The 10-year-old by Savabeel now has two Hinnomunjie Cup wins to go with his pair of Yea Cup wins (2023, ’24) among 10 victories overall from 113 starts.
The feature win was half of a double for jockey Mel McDonald, who shared honours on the day with Leigh Taylor and Rowan Cox.
Taylor’s double took him to equal second on the premiership on 12 wins, trailing the suspended Shaun Cooper (who returns on Saturday week) by 21.
Both Taylor’s wins were for Troy Kilgower, whose three winners across the weekend double-header saw him snatch the lead from Don Dwyer on the training premiership with 20 wins to Dwyer’s 18.
All right, Jack
The six winners at Sunday’s Balnarring meeting were also shared by three riders, Jack Virgona leading the way with a treble and Angela Bence bagging a brace.
Mel McDonald rode the other winner to give her a treble across the weekend, but it was Virgona who stole the show on Sunday, winning the first two races on Gentleman Jim for John Allen in the maiden and Belriah for Brooke Schreuder. He completed his treble on Jason Evans’s handy gelding Carlito Brigante.
100 up in style
Angela Bence rode Troy Kilgower’s Balnarring winner, Houdini Catarno, but it was her success on the 12-year-old picnic stalwart Hawkestone that provided the day’s highlight.
The Neville Aulich-trained gelding is on the verge of mandatory retirement when he turns 13 on August 1 and it was fitting he  brought up another win, his seventh, at his milestone 100th race start.
Hawkestone’s last three wins have all been at Balnarring, where he’s raced 12 times. 
His overall tally of seven wins doesn’t really do him justice — his consistency on Victorian racetracks is better judged on his 13 seconds and 15 thirds.