Another great evening of harness racing greeted those hardy souls who braved the cool but fine conditions at the Young Paceway on Saturday.
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The six events produced some close finishes and fast times as well as a first winning drive for a promising young Parkes driver.
Racing opened with a 2100 metre R0 to R2 with a capacity field facing the starter.
Last start winner OK Alright ($7.10) was expected to perform well again but the draw was not to her advantage and she finished a creditable third behind the Justin Field-trained Do It Yourself ($8.70) driven by Shane Hallcroft, and Daniel Rowell claiming second prize with the Grinfromeartoear colt Hard To Hear ($21.90).
The mile rating for the first of the day was posted at 2:01.4 with a neck margin going to the winner and a half head margin to third highlighting the closeness of the event.
The eventual winner had been racing consistently with a win at Leeton on July 19 prior to finishing second at Cowra last time out.
Parkes driver Andrew Ward will remember the Cherry Capital as the scene of his first winning drive behind the Presidential Ball mare Bella Charm ($3.60).
After taking the four-year-old to the lead and setting a moderate pace, he found himself under siege when the well-supported A Little Bit Frosty ($2.20) moved up at the bell to put pressure on the pacemaker until the final 200 when the favourite put his head in front.
Not to be outdone, Ward was able to gate the best out of the previous winner of five races to hold off a strong challenge and claim his first win with outsider Rosevale Magic ($24.80) picking up third with another creditable 2:02.8 mile rate recorded for the winner.
It appeared that the whole town of Parkes had travelled down to witness the momentous occasion.
The excitement was to continue in race three when another Parkes-trained pacer scored a narrow win for Brett Hutchins and driver Murray Sullivan.
Sent out a clear favourite, Cankickatarget ($3.20) kept the judge on his toes with a nose victory over Tangles ($9.10) and the Shane Hallcroft-driven second favourite Street Meets ($3.90) finishing third.
A mile rating of 2:01.4 was consistent with the previous two races, a half neck margin separating the minor placegetters.
The boys from West Wyalong were not going to be outdone, Rodney Crowe got the very best out of the Union Guy mare Confederate Girl ($22.50) after leading at the bell. The four-year-old won her last race almost 12 months ago at Canberra when driven by Scott Osmond and her return to the winners’ list caught many by surprise.
The Forbes-trained Amrbro Operative gelding Battleliner ($2.30) was expected to take the fourth on the program for Murray Sullivan but found the winner too strong.
Second favourite Striptease Dancer ($3) was relagated to third after being second at the bell, the winner producing a solid 2:00. mile rate for the 1720 metre journey.
The mail that Bernie Hewitt had a handy two-year-old was spot on when he produced the Always A Virgin colt Cobbity Cove ($2.10) in race five.
An impressive winning margin of 22 metres and a comfortable mile rate of 2:02.5 for the 1720 metre journey indicates that this son of the good mare Cobbity Crystal certainly has a bright future.
The beaten brigade was headed by second placegetter Scarlet Satene ($30.10) and another first starter in the Wendy Turnbull-trained Flightpath gelding Pedros Joy ($8.20).
The ease in which the winner put away his rivals combined with his impeccable racing manners will surely see him set for future feature races.
Western District participants continued to dominate in race six when the Canowindra-trained three-year-old gelding Our Castanea ($6.50) came from last at the bell to gather in Tulhurst Paddy ($3.80) and stablemate Tulhurst Tully ($6.40) in the closest finish of the night.
Having had only three previous starts, the Browning Blue Chip chestnut showed plenty of determination, being forced to take the wider option on the turn into the straight in running down the Nathan Hurst trained combination.
The win was also a reward for all those supporters, parents, wives and girlfriends who arrived early at the track and stayed to the final whistle to cheer home the popular driver, Matt Rue.
The Young club will race again on Friday afternoon, August 22 with eight $5,000 races on the program and a strong supporting card that will include an Encouragement Stakes and a Competitive Stakes together with a Ladyship RO/R2.
