Gary Harley
Winning trebles to provincial based jockeys Aaron Bullock and Keagan Latham highlighted Saturday’s Newcastle Jockey Club seven race meeting. Bullock won the NSW Jockeys Premiership in 2022-23 and 2024-25 and has ridden 60.5 winners in the first half of the current season.
The Singleton boy who resides in Newcastle these days partnered with the training partnership of John O’Shea and Tom Charlton to win the opening event the 1500 metre Girls Day Out- Women In Sport Super Maiden Handicap aboard Pompatus. The latter was $1.75 on Friday with TAB but a huge plunge on runner up Sun To Me ($5.50) saw Pompatus price drift to $3.10 at barrier rise. Sun To Me wore blinkers for the first time and he raced keen well clear of the field while Bullock settled Pompatus at the tail of the field.
Sun To Me started to tire inside the 200-meter mark and Pompatus claimed him close to home to win by 1.08 lengths. Bullock made it two from two when he piloted Kris Lees Estoile Filante to victory in the second event, the 1500 metre Porter Hire Provincial Class 1 Handicap. Considered by form analysist as the best of the day after being desperately unlucky when narrowly beaten on the Beaumont track on January 15 the 4-year-old went to the barrier as the $1.70 favourite. With good speed up front the favourite travelled sweetly in third place before reaching the lead 200 metres from home and he cruised to the line to win by 1.5 lengths. Lees and Bullock combined to land a $10 chance Oakfield Mamselle a narrow winner of the final event, the 1600 metre RAIS Super Benchmark 64 Handicap. A drifter in betting with TAB the 6-year-old mare, found her best form finishing strongly to beat Powerhouse and Tassron. The latter trained by Chris Waller was the subject of a huge plunge backed from $3.40 into $2 on race day.
Latham’s three winners were for Sydney bases trainers David Phieffer, John Thompson and the O’Shea – Charlton partnership. Pheiffer’s 4-year-old mare Easiest Choice had been trialling well, and the punters were on the ball backing her into $2.05 in the 1300 metre Brian Sheeley Memorial Maiden Handicap. She bolted in by 2.5 lengths. Thompsons lightly races colt Embrace The Wind scored the narrowest of victory’s in the 1300 metre Ryan Ansell Investment Solutions Class 1 Handicap. The 3-year-old was given a perfect run behind the speed but after dashing clear halfway down the straight Latham had to ride desperately to win the race by half a head.
While Latham’s previous two winners were short-priced favourites, the third leg of his treble. The O’Shea -Charlton trained Jagerbomb was a drifting $6.50 in the 1400 metre Girls Day Out X Kloster Ford Benchmark 68 Handicap. The 3-year-old has never been out of a place from five starts for 2 wins and 3 placings.
Scone apprentice Leeshelle Small continued her successful association with Rod Northams 6-year-old mare Play My Song. The well-named daughter of Jukebox has won three of her last four starts and in all three Small has been int eh saddle. On Saturday Small bought the mare from midfield on the turn to win the 900 metre Montgomery Homes Benchmark 64 Handicap.