Chris Geary’s first drive at Dubbo Harness Racing Club could not have gone much better.
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One of the leading drivers in the state, Geary eased to victory with the Shane and Lauren Tritton trained My Rona Gold in the first heat of the Red Ochre Mares Classic Heat.
The $30,000 Group 3 final, Dubbo’s biggest race of the year, is this coming Friday night and Geary likes My Rona Gold’s chances after leading from start to finish over the 2120m journey.
My Rona Gold also appeared to have plenty left in the tank on his way to winning by 5.8m in a mile rate of 1:58:5.
“She seemed to do that really well within herself, which is pleasing, and the track was no worry for her,” he said.
She seemed to do that really well within herself, which is pleasing.
- Chris Geary on My Rona Gold
“I’m really looking forward to next Friday.”
With the first five past the post in Sunday’s pair of heats winning through to the final there was never any cracking pace shown.
My Rona Gold’s win was the quicker of the two and Geary still described the bulk of the mare’s run as “lazy”.
After getting to the front early from gate four it was all fairly simple for My Rona Gold ($2.90 favourite) and Geary only had to look back once down the home straight to see where Takkara Truffle ($4.10) was looming.
The Aaron Goadsby-trained chance impressed in her run home, also appearing to have plenty in reserve, while the same went for Jarrod Alchin’s Ima Mystery Girl ($6.40), who was more than a further six metres back in third.
Gotta Bewitched ($9.70) and Miss Rodriguez ($20.40), who raced in last year’s final, rounded out the top five.
The favourite also got the job done in the second heat as the Mark Callaghan trained-and-driven Lovin Miss Daisy ($2.10) won by a neck from Alchin’s Lombo Newsy Scoop ($4.50).
There will be much interest in the barrier draw for the final later this week and while hopeful of a favourable result, Geary stated My Rona Gold is capable of making an impact from any position.
“She showed she’s got the speed to get around these small tracks and she’s pretty versatile so the draw might not be the worst thing in the world but it would be nice to draw a barrier for the final,” he said. before praising the Tritton in their hunt for a third Red Ochre crown.
“It’s awesome. They’ve been really good to me and given me a lot of great opportunities as well.
“They keep turning up with nice horses and it makes my job easy.”
The Little Red Jug heats over 1720m were the other main attraction on Sunday afternoon and leading driver Amanda Turnbull shined in the opener on her way to finishing with a Dubbo treble.
As well as Jonah Jones ($1.20 favourite) in the first Little Red Jug heat, Turnbull also drove Hidden Courage ($1.30 favourite) and Written In Style ($4.20) to victory in the Radio 2DU Pace (2120m) and Hogs Breath Cafe Pace (2120m) respectively.
Mathew Taylor’s Alert The Bagman ($26.30) was a surprise winner in the second Little Red Jug heat.