Singleton jockey Aaron Bullock rode a treble at Newcastle Jockey Club’s seven-race meeting on Saturday.
Bullock, who claimed the NSW jockey’s premiership in both 2022-2023 and 2024-2025, has ridden 60.5 winners during the first half of the current season.
The Singleton boy, who resides in Newcastle these days, combined with training partnership John O’Shea and Tom Charlton to win the opening super maiden handicap (1500 metres) aboard Pompatus.
The latter was a $1.75 with TAB on Friday, but a huge plunge on runner-up Sun To Me ($5.50 to $2.40) 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.
Sun To Me started to tire inside the 200m mark and Pompatus caught him close to home to win by 1.08 lengths.
Bullock made it two from two when he piloted Kris Lees’ Etoile Filante to victory in the second, a provincial class 1 handicap (1500m).
Considered by form analysts as the bet of the day after being desperately unlucky when narrowly beaten on the Beaumont track on January 15, the four-year-old reached the start line as $1.70 favourite.
With good speed up front, Etoile Filante travelled sweetly in third place before reaching the lead 200m out and cruised to the line to win by one-and-a-half lengths.
Lees and Bullock teamed up to land $10 chance Oakfield Mamselle, a narrow winner in the final event.
A drifter in betting with TAB, the six-year-old mare found her best form and finished strongly to beat powerhouse Tassron in the benchmark 64 handicap (1600m).
The latter, trained by Chris Waller, was subject of a huge betting plunge, backed from $3.40 into $2 on race day and had every chance.
Scone apprentice Leeshelle Small continued her successful association with Scone trainer Rodney Northam’s six-year-old mare Play My Song.
The well-named daughter of Jukebox has won three of her last four starts and Small has been in the saddle on each occasion.
On Saturday, Small travelled from midfield at the turn to win a benchmark 64 handicap (900m).
Newcastle race again Tuesday, but on the Beaumont track.
Elsewhere, Scone’s Brett and Georgie Cavanough picked up the TAB Highway Plate (1500m) at Randwick on Saturday courtesy of Navy Steel.
The $2million Inglis Millennium (1100m), a restricted listed race for two-year-olds, is scheduled for Randwick this coming weekend with Lees-prepared colt Rivellino having won that prize 12 months ago.
Article originally published in Singleton Argus.