Australian and Newcastle / Hunter Hall of Famer Robert Thompson has ridden an incredible eleven Jungle Juice Cup winners and he has a great chance of making it an even dozen at Cessnock on Monday.
The evergreen Thompson has made four trips to Queensland in recent months where he has won the Townsville, Cairns, Cairns Amateurs and Innisfail Cups.
After fours days of fishing in North Queensland Thompson returned home to Cessnock on Thursday and he has the mount on the topweight Three Sheets in the $37,000 Cessnock Leagues Club Jungle Juice Cup (1350m).
Jeremy Sylvester the local trainer has combined with Thompson to win the Jungle Juice Cup and he prepares Three Sheets after a number of operations Three Sheets has recaptured his best form which saw him finish runner up to Ultima Chance in the 2016 Jungle Juice Cup.
Three Sheets stormed home first up in the Hurricane Handicap when second during the September Newcastle Cup Carnival. He again caught the eye with a fast finishing placing in the recent Krambach Sprint at the Port Macquarie Cup Carnival.
Sylvester pointed out on Friday that Thee Sheets has a couple of hurdles to overcome “He is the class horse, but he has to hump 61 kilograms and has drawn the outside gate. Because Three Sheets drops out in his race, he will need plenty of luck around Cessnock. They are the negatives, however, our trump card is that I was able to book Robert (Thompson) to ride him. I believe the horse is just about at his best following three recent starts. Three Sheets has only raced once at Cessnock and he finished second.” Sylvester said.
The co-feature race on Monday is the $37,000 East Cessnock Bowling Club Cessnock Cup (2125 metres). Richard and Michael Freedman train the topweight Zaunkonig and the seven-year-old will be hard to beat. He won the Bathurst Cup by 4½ lengths on September 28 after leading all the way. The gelding finished down the track last start in the Port Macquarie Cup but this is a huge drop in class.
Paul Perry’s Nothing Too Hard will run well with the light weight. He was a Newcastle winner two starts back and he has won over the trip.
Art Attacks finished better than midfield in the much stronger Port Macquarie Cup. Aaron Bullock rides Art Attack and he is capable of accounting for this field.
Robert Thompson has won six Cessnock Cups and he has the mount on the Port Macquarie trained The Kroc and he cannot be underestimated.
The best placed horse all day is Tapiconic in the 1150 metre New Zealand Bloodstock Maiden Plate. The Ciaron Maher and David Eustace trained four-year-old was only beaten a length at Canterbury last start in May. He is Christian Reith’s only mount at Cessnock.