MY Maggie “didn’t know what she was doing” but still flew late to win Monday’s Upper Hunter Mechanical Services 2YO Handicap (1000m) at Scone – and suggest she has a more than handy future.
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The Muswellbrook filly, trained by veteran trainer Pat Farrell, was having her fifth race start when she and Greg Ryan jumped from barrier 12 and arrived late to snare a three-quarter length victory from Paul Perry’s Matchfox with the Kris Lees-trained Bochy an eye-catching head away third.
My Maggie, a daughter of I Am Invincible, had won her previous start on a Soft 5 at Scone and matched that on Monday on a Soft 7, scampering home for an impressed Ryan.
The Dubbo-based jockey admitted to Farrell he had his hands full early.
“She doesn’t know what she’s doing yet,” he told the trainer as he unsaddled.
“She was only doing what she had to.”
He had settled sixth and seventh and responded to his vigorous riding as she moved wider.
“She didn’t know what was going on around her,” Ryan added.
“That’s why you were on,” Farrell said.
“To educate her.”
Ryan reckons she will improve immensely from that run while Farrell doesn’t have anything concrete for a filly he purchased for $25,000 and races himself.
It was a busy day of racing for the Scone Race Club with nine races.
The highlight was the double for Scone’s newest trainer, Brett Cavanough.
He won with Mafki Lass and then Still Undaunted as he relocates from Albury with around 40 horses to go into work.
Cavanough, 54, has one daughter working at Newmarket in England and a son at school in Melbourne and another two children with him and his wife.
It’s a huge change for he and his family but one he is certain will pay off.
“We’ve got a couple of truckloads (of horses) coming up [today],” he said on Monday.
“Should have about 35 to 40, something like that.”
So why move from Albury to Scone?
“There are only three nurseries in the world, Newmarket, Kentucky and Scone,” he said.
“I can’t understand why there aren’t more trainers here.”
Local racing attention now turns to Muswellbrook Race Club, which stages a seven-race TAB meeting next Thursday (April 13), nominations for which close at 11am today (Friday).
The MRC then races again the following Friday, April 21, when it has an eight-race TAB program highlighted by the $25,000 Lone Pine Charge (1000m) and the two juvenile races over 1000m, the Miss Finland 2YO for the fillies and the Star Kingdom 2YO for the colts and geldings.
Both are worth $25,000.
Nominations for that April 21 meeting close 11am on Monday, April 17.
