Name etched in glory
THE Gold Coast Turf Club has honoured 10 times jockeys premiership winner Daniel Griffin with naming rights on more than half the races on the eight-event program at Aquis Park on Saturday.
Griffin, 39, has announced his retirement from the saddle after securing his 10th Gold Coast jockeys title after riding a winning treble last week to claim the 2019-20 honours and his name appears on top of five of the eight races.
“I am totally gobsmacked and blown away,” Griffin said.
“The support of the Gold Coast Turf Club is amazing. The front man Brett Cook, he has taken my breath away and has been quite emotional, actually.”
Griffin will hang up his saddle after riding the Desleigh Forster-trained Cabalo Escuro in the last race on the card, the Dan Griffin 10th Jockey Premiership Benchmark 68 Handicap (1200m).
Cabalo Escuro is the winner of three of his nine race starts before being sent for a spell in January.
Griffin is giving the All Too Hard three-year-old a great chance to send him out with a win at his last ride.
“It will be hard to beat,” he said.
Trainers Bryan and Daniel Guy provided Griffin with the middle leg of his winning treble last Saturday with Delector taking out the QTIS 3YO Maiden Handicap.
That win gave Griffin 26 wins for the season and took him past Ryan Plumb who was on 25 wins but is out of action because of injury.
Griffin collected another win later in the day on the Barry Lockwood-trained Rossmay and will kick off Saturday’s meeting with 27 wins beside his name.
He will team up again with the Guy stable with Momentum To Win in the Griffin 2019 – 2020 Benchmark 68 Handicap (2200m) and he is giving himself a great chance to score another win on the five-year-old after they combined for a win at the Gold Coast on June 6.
“There was no tempo in the race and I just took the opportunity up and it won quite convincingly on that day,” Griffin said. “His last run he was only beaten 3.8 lengths and he should be a very good contender.”
The John Smerdontrained Bradbury will also give Griffin a winning chance in the Griffin 2016-2017 Class 5 Handicap (1400m).
Bradbury will be fitter for one run back from a break and was doing his best work when a closing third over 1300m at the Gold Coast three weeks ago.
Father and son training partnership of Toby and Trent Edmonds have wrapped up the Gold Coast trainers premiership with 34 wins heading into the last Gold Coast meeting of the 2019-20 season, six wins ahead of Les Kelly on 28.
Team Edmonds will saddle up four runners today.
PREMIERSHIPS have been tallied without including any wins during the zoned period between April 1 and May 3 due to restrictions associated with COVID-19.