Following creditable performances in the Winter Country Classic series at Dubbo Turf Club, the Barry Wall trained Deshawn justified favouritism when winning on Saturday at Cowra.
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The win was a popular one given Deshawn is trained at the Cowra track, much like the Andrew Molloy-trained The Mediator which also won on Saturday.
Wall who is the track curator at Cowra has done a great job with his bargain basement buy Deshawn, who now has a record of six wins and 10 placings in 35 starts.
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At Dubbo recently, Deshawn had finished sixth in a big field in his Winter Country Classic heat before finishing in the same spot in the final won by Dubai Centre.
Those were his first two runs this preparation, and on Saturday at Cowra he was nicely positioned behind the leaders by apprentice Teaghan Martin.
Deshawn ($2.50 favourite) then reeled in Out Now (Chelsea Ings, $15) to win the The Ducks Friend Benchmark 50 Handicap (1100m) by more than a length with Lennox Road (Molly Bourke, $6) in third.
Finishing fourth in the race was Combogolong ($4, Jake Barrett) trained at Dubbo by Brett Robb. Robb wasn't in Cowra as he was at Randwick with rising talent Gallant Star ($7, Clayton Gallagher), who finished a creditable third against city horses in the Home Affairs At Coolmore Handicap (1100m) two-year-old event.
Elsewhere at Cowra, Molloy was also among the winners.
Racing in the same colours as those carried by the Molloy-trained Zarhron, the winner of four Cowra Japan Cups, The Mediator was an impressive winner of the Brendon Yelverton Memorial Class 2 Handicap (1375m) for owner Ashley Gilbert from Crookwell and the Cowra trainer.
The race was sponsored by Bathurst trainer Roy McCabe, and after turning the home bend in front, The Mediator (Ken Dunbar, $9) cleared out to win by four lengths from Neon Moon (Jake Barrett, $11) and Mystic Flame (Teaghan Worsnop, $3.30 fav.).
Race 5 at Cowra was the Owen Murray Memorial Maiden Plate and therein lies an intriguing tale.
Lee Freedman, a leading trainer in both Australia and Hong Kong and an inductee in the Hall Of Fame and trainer of such champions as Makybe Diva and Super Impose, had humble beginnings in the sport with his first winner coming in a Maiden Handicap at Yass Picnics.
That winner, Guilt, was ridden by Owen Murray, who hailed from Cowra and passed away recently. Murray is fondly remembered as a very likeable, knockabout character who worked as a shearer and rode winners during a short time on the Picnic circuit.
Winner of the 1200m Memorial race for Murray was Rubiwish (Tony Cavallo, $2.70 favourite) for Warwick Farm trainer Jarrod Austin. Rubiwash led most of way to beat San Paulo (Andrew Banks, $12) and Distantness (Dunbar, $6.50).
Nowra trainer Richard Butler and jockey Nick Heywood combined for a winning double with $3.20 chance Areeba Spirit in the Beverly Williams Memorial Maiden Handicap (950m) and Are Zhu Ready ($3.60 favourite) in the Cowra Regional Suicide Awareness Dinner Benchmark 50 Handicap (1100m).
Given a charmed run tracking the leaders by Richard Bensley, the Aaron Clarke-trained Little River Rose ($2.50 fav.) won the Claudia Leighton Birthday Wish Class 1 Handicap (950m) from Cheval De Frise (Chelsea Ings, $5) and Magic Smile (Jake Barrett, $21).
After a couple of years severely impacted by COVID and poor weather, Saturday was a step in the right direction for the Cowra club and a good crowd was in attendance for the meeting.
