COLE’S TEARS FOR FALLEN MEL
Trainer wins emotional race dedicated to his jockey
TRAINER Phil Cole was full of emotion when Kronos sprinted to a two-length win in the race dedicated to his former jockey and friend Melanie Tyndall.
Tyndall tragically passed away last August after falling from Cole’s horse Restless and a year on the Darwin Turf Club allied with the National Jockeys Trust to dedicate a race meet to fallen jockeys.
And it was the feature race four $20,500 Melanie Tyndall Memorial (1000m) that was on Cole’s mind to honour her memory.
“It was an emotional race for us all and there wasn’t a single one of us who wasn’t teary after we got the win,” Cole said.
“Days like today are important to celebrate jockeys. They might not be here but they will never be forgotten and today helps us honour them.”
Kronos and jockey Wayne
Davis showed their will to win from the gates, sprinting from out wide to take the early lead and never looked back through the race.
Gary Clarke’s I’m Too Hot ridden by Kim Gladwin put the challenge up around the bend but couldn’t match the pace that the frontrunner had set and settled for second.
Another Cole horse finished on the podium, with Colhoun benefiting from a lower weight and taking out third with apprentice jockey Alice Lindsay aboard.
“Kronos is a great horse with some good speed and pace so I was feeling pretty confident coming into the race,” Cole said.
“Great ride from Alice to take third. She had a great run and showed that she will just need some opportunities to pick up some more winners.”
Hoop Stan Tsaikos, who rode in the silks of the National Jockeys Trust for the feature race, managed a commanding six-length win aboard Chris Pollard’s My
Tradition in the opening race.
Other race winners yesterday were Papalet (trainer Clarke, jockey Gladwin) and Hope Ya Don’t Mind (James Bell, Jarrod Todd).