JOCKEY’S DECISION
MACKAY trainer Trinity Bannon will target a Cairns Amateurs Cup with Scherzoso but she might have a little trouble retaining her quality jockey.
The eight-year-old former Victorian swam down the outside of the Cannon Park straight on Saturday afternoon in wet conditions to score in the 2019 $75,000 Cairns Newmarket.
Legendary hoop Robert Thompson was the man in the saddle as he gave the gelding a spectacular ride down the extreme outside of the track, which was likely to be the least affected by the day’s racing and rain.
A former jockey herself, Bannon, will now set Scherzoso for a tilt at the $150,000 Cup in the middle of next month.
But will she be able to retain the Hall of Fame rider?
That remains to be seen as Thompson has committed to The Harrovian, who is likely to push on to the Amateurs Cup, while he also has a close connection with the Ryan stable on the Tablelands.
They will figure out the details in the coming weeks, but for now, the Mackay trainer will savour the Cannon Park feature race victory.
“The horse is a very high calibre horse,” Bannon said.
“Stepping up in distance from here, I think he will be much more competitive again.
“Robert Thompson, he rides the track fantastic, he is probably the best Cairns rider going. He punches out a lot of winners over carnival time.
“We had the right jockey, right race on the right kind of day so it all fell into place.”
Bannon has her eyes on a mile race at Townsville soon with Scherzoso, then will head towards the Townsville Amateurs, and then hopefully back to the Far North.
Last year’s Cleveland Bay Handicap winner Grey Missile was brave in defeat.
Grey Missile and Scherzoso turned for home together on the Cannon Park straight, as the Bannon-trained gelding was always on the outside and got the better of the grey.
The Ricky Vale-trained Mr Attitude finished well back in the field in his attempt to snare a share of the $350,000 Queensland Northern Crowns Series bonus.
The Rockhampton horse was almost nine lengths behind the winner.
Mr Attitude would need to win the $75,000 Cairns Amateurs Open Sprint (1400m) next month to pick up a slice of the bonus but he could be on the way out for a spell instead.
As they jumped in the Newmarket, the locally trained and owned Divine Service reared, dislodging his rider Shohei Kaya and took no competitive part in the race.