Fractured skull postpones wedding
Ruakaka horsewoman Donna Logan has suffered a serious fall that has delayed her wedding and prevented her attending a special day at her local race meeting.
‘‘It’s been a disaster and I feel so sorry for her,’’ her training partner Chris Gibbs said.
‘‘She slipped on some wet ground and she took a really bad tumble. She’s got a split under her nose and a fractured skull.
‘‘She’s in hospital at the moment and she’s hoping to get out today. Everything has turned to custard.’’
Logan was to have wed her partner Peter Woods on Friday and yesterday’s Ruakaka fixture was to have been her farewell meeting ahead of a new stage of her training career in Singapore.
Tavistock’s son Tavlin at least provided a tonic when he opened his winning account in the Remembering Ila Johnson (Grandma J) Maiden (1600m).
The three-year-old, who holds a nomination for the Group I Vodafone New Zealand Derby (2400m), is co-trained by Logan, who bred the
She slipped on some wet ground and she took a really bad tumble. Training partner Chris Gibbs
gelding and shares in the ownership.
Tavlin was making his fourth appearance and his first success came off the back of a runner-up finish on the course last month.
‘‘The blinkers helped that bit of greenness he showed at his last start when he didn’t take a gap as well as we had hoped,’’ Gibbs said.
Yesterday, rider Matt Cameron had Tavlin travelling kindly three back on the fence to the turn.
‘‘The gap opened up for us at the top of the straight and he got the job done,’’ he said.
‘‘He’s still learning, but he should go through the grades quickly.’’
And the winning did not stop there for the Logan-Gibbs team.
Despite Logan not being on-course, the partnership won five races on its home track.
Danzdanzdance, Richie McHorse, Romancer and Bruce Arthur joined Tavlin in the winners’ column.
Cameron rode all of the Logan-Gibbs winners except Romancer but rode a fifth winner of his own with the Jenna Mahoney-trained Hatton Garden.
Meanwhile, six days into 2018, six race thoroughbred meetings have been abandoned.
The latest was the Marton Jockey Club meeting that was to be held at Awapuni yesterday.
Thankfully, the meeting – highlighted by the Listed Marton Cup (2100m) – will get another chance at the same venue today.
Yesterday’s meeting was abandoned after the track received more than 40ml of rain in the previous 48 hours.
– with NZ Racing Desk.