WHETHER it gets recognised officially or not, jockey Anthony Cavallo will claim that he rode the card at Wellington's non-TAB meeting on Boxing Day.
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The Sydney-based rider, a veteran of 28 years in the saddle, rode four winners on the five-race card however the third event of the day was abandoned, meaning he tasted victory in each of the four events runs and won on the day.
"It will go down on paper as four rides for four wins in the four races so I'll take that," Cavallo joked.
"It's a nice achievement to have, whether they recognise it properly or not.
"I've ridden four winners on a day a couple of times before but never on a program that ended up being just four races so it was a good late Christmas present."
Cavallo's dominance started in the opening event when he piloted Nosey Inn ($6.00) to victory in the Andy Byrne Plumbing Maiden Plate (900m) for Wongarbon publican Pat Finn.
The three-year-old had been to the races on four previous occasions without figuring in the placings but appreciated a six-week freshen-up and a return to non-TAB company to beat Murmansk ($2.80 fav, Martin Haley) by three-quarters-of-a-length.
The second race on the card was a popular result for locals when the Jim McMillan-trained Misblueblud ($6.00) proved too good for her rivals to take out the Dunedoo Supporters Club Handicap (900m).
There was drama prior to and during the third event, with Bib And Brace throwing Tiffany Jeffries prior to the race and apprentice Martin Haley injured after a fall that resulted in the race being abandoned.
While Haley was unable to ride for the remainder of the program, Cavallo's luck was in as he picked up the ride on Celtic Power in the Kitch's Hardware Class 1 Handicap (1100m).
"You never like to see something like that happen. It could have been much worse," Cavallo said.
"Marty's bad luck proved to work in my favour. My horse in the fourth was scratched but when he wasn't able to ride Celtic Power I got the ride and the horse came out and won."
Celtic Power ($3.00), trained by Rodney Robb at Nyngan, beat So Sure (Kazu Nakata, $3.80) by one-and-a-half lengths, which left all the pressure on Cavallo in the final event.
The 45-year-old was legged aboard the Garry Lunn-trained Strong ($4.60) and rode a confident race to get the five-year-old home for the fifth win of her career.
"I wasn't really worried too much about riding the card when I was behind the barriers but when I hit the line I was pretty pumped and gave a little salute," Cavallo said.
"I think the fact the horse wasn't favourite helped. When you're on a $1.40 chance and something on the line is much tougher but I just went out and rode my own race and it panned out well."
