Cup Day special for Gordonvale locals
PUBLICAN Brett Dawson is hoping the local trainers can clean up this afternoon on Gordonvale Cup Day.
Local trainers Dean Piccolo, Ralph Baker and Ray Moller all have winning chances across the five-race non-TAB card for the 2018 Bill Dawson Memorial Gordonvale Cup, named after Brett’s late father.
Dawson lost his racing enthusiast father Bill about 25 years ago and is pleased to be able to honour his memory every year with the running of the Cup over 1800m, worth $15,000 in 2018.
“He was an old greyhound trainer from Newcastle. He owned race horses, trotters and gallopers up here,” Dawson said.
“He used to like his races and it is a good thing to do to keep his memory going at the races. When the opportunity came available four or so years ago to sponsor the race, we jumped in.”
While Dawson would like to see Baker lift the Cup with the consistent Bold Avenue, he is also keen to find a winner of his own today.
Dawson and a small group of owners have bred with their mare Bella Sirena, producing Roth’N’Bell, who went around at Cluden Park on Thursday and won two recent Cairns races, and Roth stock’ N’ Bella, who is yet to win in nine starts.
The four-year-old gelding ran third at Atherton last month and looks a strong chance to break his maiden status this afternoon.
“He is yet to win a race but he is a big lump of a horse,” Dawson said. “He is taking a bit more time, growing and what not, to get there.
“He should go close, we are hopeful. It would be nice to win one on the home turf.”
In the Cup, Stephen Massingham’s Jimmy Hoffa is chasing three wins on the bounce after collecting the Mareeba Cup last month.
The eight-year-old won well at Cairns last Saturday and drops plenty of weight from his last two starts.
“The Gordonvale and the Innisfail Cups are his two main targets,” Massingham said.
“He is going really well this prep.”
This time last year, Vaunting made up for a luckless run in the 2017 Atherton Cup in the Bill Dawson Memorial Gordonvale Cup.
Samantha Molino and Vaunting are set to chase backto-back Cups this afternoon.