District trainers made a successful raid on last Saturday’s Griffith meeting across the NSW border, winning four of the six races, but one of their most encouraging runs came in defeat.
Bambu Babe, trained at Seymour by Don Dwyer, was unwanted in betting on her belated debut in a 1200-metre maiden, easing from $14 to $21, but charged home from the back half of the field for a length second to fellow Victorian Pippie Pomar ($2.50 favourite), trained at Wangaratta by Craig Weeding.
Bambu Babe is a five-year-old whose racing career has been delayed by an intense phobia around the starting barriers. 
Only infinite patience and persistence has seen the mare, a $600 online purchase, finally make it to the races after only having her first jumpout just before the end of last season — with no official result recorded because dense fog unsighted the judge — then gaining her barrier certificate at Bendigo on August 18. 
Bambu Babe would appear to have it all ahead of her now.
Pippie Pomar also seems to have gained a new lease on life after last Saturday’s win under Hannah Edgley. This was the four-year-old Sun City mare’s first start for Weeding since her transfer from the Queensland stable of Tony and Maddysen Sears, for whom she had 14 starts for six minor placings.
Weeding went on to complete a double with Cilento ($3.90) in a 1000-metre benchmark 50, ridden by Jake Duffy.
The All Too Hard mare was the 100th winner for the Weeding/Duffy combination, a great achievement.
Another Wangaratta trainer, Andrew Dale, took the Griffith Cup (1350m) with $4.40 favourite Eamonn’s Memory, ridden by Nick Heywood.
Eamonn’s Memory has been a tremendous asset to the Dale yard, now an eight-year-old veteran of 87 starts for 15 wins, nine seconds, 10 thirds and $294,700 in stakes. 
The other cross-border winner on the card was Smart Asset ($20) for Wangaratta-based Ashleigh Smith in the 1200-metre benchmark 50. Apprentice Rochelle Wedrat-Kroezen was the winning rider.
Crown turns it around
There were more pleasing results for district trainers at Kilmore on Sunday, starting with four-year-old gelding Earthly Crown ($61) in a 1600-metre maiden. 
Earthly Crown hadn’t shown a lot in his first four starts and the step up in trip to 1600 metres would appear to be the key to his turnaround in form. 
By the sprint influence Royal Meeting, Earthly Crown is out of the Galileo mare Sister Earth, which has no doubt introduced dourness into his bloodline. 
The last race, the 0-56 handicap over 1100 metres, produced a trifecta for central Victorian trainers. 
The race was taken out by Fortyfour Magnum ($8.50), trained locally by David Dean and ridden by Chelsea Thompson, from Seymour pair True Prophet ($6), trained by Jamie Gibbons, and Snow On Her ($151), trained by Christopher Davis.