Last time he visited Towac Park, Grant Buckley scored two winners in the entire program.
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On Monday afternoon at the final Racing Club Orange event of 2020, the 47-year-old Hawkesbury hoop matched that total in the first two races.
He missed out on an early treble and then had to settle with the pair of victories as the final four races on the card were abandoned after a heavy storm left water present on the track.
Buckley's first win came when Dom Tycoon ($2.45) saluted in the $22,000 DVM Embroidery Maiden Plate (1400m), the hoop sitting midfield before bringing the gelding to the middle of the track after the turn to win with relative ease.
The two-length triumph was the first for the Randwick-based horse and it felt like the breakthrough was coming after a pair of second-placed efforts at Scone and Canberra.
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Nicator ($3.60) shaped as a harder task for Buckley as he had a solid favourite, You Rang ($3) to contend with in the $22,000 XXXX Gold Maiden Handicap (1000).
But, what would have encouraged Nicator backers was the alarming drift on the favourite as the mare grew soft in the market, making its way from $2 out to $3.
As it turned out, the volume of money was warranted as the gelding held on to win by a neck.
He had to give the horse a bit of a kick at the 150 as it appeared to slow down in the shadows of the judge.
"I had to encourage him for a bit there," Buckley said.
"He half floated but after that, when he heard the other horses coming, he stuck on a little bit more for a really good win."
"He's a funny sort of horse... he was a little bit hesitant early but the further we were going, the better he was going."
That other horse was the favourite as You Rang surged up to almost snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Buckley recently welcomed a new family member into his home and said the positive results will go a long way to make that transition easier.
"I've got a new little boy... he's only two months old so there's plenty of bills coming up," he laughed.
Jake Humphreys
Sports nut at the Central Western Daily.
Sports nut at the Central Western Daily.
