WINNING DAY FOR OAKFORD
VETERAN Darwin jockey Richie Oakford is a cool customer, but even he admitted he had a “heart-stop moment” at Fannie Bay yesterday.
Saddling up on the Gary Clarke-trained Captain Punch, it didn’t last long though.
After slightly missing the start, the star five-year-old cruised home to win the $17,000 race three feature Benchmark 74 Handicap (1000m) by four lengths over Philip Cole’s Red Magnet.
“He was throwing his head at the start so I had a bit of a heart-stop moment,” Oakford said. “He missed the start a little bit but then got going pretty quickly.”
It was Oakford’s first time aboard Captain Punch, and said it was a pleasure riding the horse who won three-straight races in June and July last year.
It was his first run back since finishing last in the 2016 Palmerston Sprint on July 30, after tearing a muscle near his rump. And apart from the start, the gelding didn’t miss a beat.
“It was the first time I’ve ridden him in a race. We’ve seen what he can do,” Oakford said.
“He holds the track record here (1min01.99sec over 1100m on June 11 last year) and he’s a proven horse.
“He was probably a class above those horses.
“First run back and he did that so he’ll probably get better from here.”
Clarke was delighted with Captain Punch’s first run back in 6½ months, and will push ahead with plans to have him star once again in the Darwin Cup Carnival.
“I was happy with that. He’s a real good horse – he suits the way we race up here,” he said.
“He seems to love the sand and he’s a magnificent looking horse.
“I’ll just space his runs and won’t tax him too much at this time of year, until he gets into some nice races.”
It was another good afternoon for four-time reigning Darwin trainers’ champion Clarke, with stablemate Tennessee Outlaw winning the race four Handicap (1000m) by a length over Cole’s Edge Of Chaos.
Tennessee Outlaw was also ridden by Oakford.
Other winners were More Than Frank (race one for Kerry Petrick), Mighty Tax (race two for Cole) and Tatamagouche (race five for Jason Manning).
Vanessa Arnott also rode two winners (Mighty Tax to a 6½-length victory and Tatamagouche), with Felicia Bergstrand (More Than Frank) the other winning hoop.