LOCAL TRAINERS DOUBLE UP AGAIN AT HOME
- John Curtis
- 39 minutes ago
- 3 min read
For the fourth time at home this season they again shared the spotlight today, each winning a race.
And their results were popular with punters; Widdup’s Admire Me and Attard’s Nesrine both starting well backed favorites – and also they were the only provincial winners.
Not surprisingly given their form, Widdup and Attard are at the top of the Hawkesbury premiership table.
Widdup, with eight winners (and 23 overall so far this season), is attempting to defend the title he won last season, becoming the first Hawkesbury trainer in three decades to beat all comers.
Attard, with a much smaller team, has won seven races this season; six have been at home and he sits second in the premiership.
However, neither Widdup nor Attard’s winners are likely to be in action again in the near future.
Widdup wants to chat with breeder-owner Steve Summers about giving Admire Me a break following her victory in the Irresistible Pools & Spas Provincial Maiden Plate (1100m), and Attard is calling a halt to Nesrine’s current campaign after she achieved a hat-trick in taking the Pioneer Services F&M Benchmark 64 Handicap (1100m).
Admire Me ($2.60) was successful at the same track where her dam Magna Amica (now retired from breeding) won a Class 2 Handicap over the same distance in 2013.
‘Steve raced horses with Mark Newnham (currently leading the Hong Kong trainers’ premiership), and gave me this filly to train,” Widdup said this evening.
“We haven’t pushed her, and that was only her second start.
“Nothing went right for her first time out at Gosford, and it was good to see her take improvement from that and break through today.
“Admire Me still isn’t the finished product, and I’ll talk with Steve about stopping with her now.
“I’m sure she will come back even better next time.”
Jockey Tyler Schiller had to ride vigorously in the closing stages to get the three-year-old filly home narrowly from Rose Of Fenway ($8) and Odaka ($3.10).
However there was added merit to her performance as she became fractious in the barrier stalls and kicked out at the back gates.
Admire Me was examined and cleared to start, but subsequently a warning was placed on her in respect to her barrier manners by RacingNSW stewards.
Meanwhile, Widdup is still hoping to book a jockey for Phearson in the capacity Festival Stakes line-up at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
Attard has done a superb job to win three races in a row at home with Nesrine, especially considering she nearly didn’t race after being kicked by a stablemate earlier in the year and suffered a fractured skull.
Tommy Berry, who continued his clear lead in the jockeys’ premiership (this was his 13th win this season), reunited with Nesrine ($2.90) after a suspension cost him the winning mount last time.
He gave her a superb ride, aware she had 61kg to carry at her first start in four weeks, and got her home ahead of Leantothemoon ($4.40) and Spice Baby ($9).
“Not for a minute did I consider seeking an apprentice to lessen Nesrine’s weight,” Attard said.
“Tommy’s ability and the fact he knows the mare well more than compensated for an apprentice’s claim in my opinion.
“Nesrine showed today she is better on top of the ground and, whilst it was great to clinch a hat-trick with her and for Kate Nivison’s Etak Thoroughbreds, I feel it’s time to give her a month off.”Whilst dates for the Provincial-Midway Championships in autumn have just been released, the series isn’t really on Attard’s radar.
“I’m sure Nesrine is up to winning in town next time, but the 1400m of the Provincial-Midway Championships might be beyond her distance range,” he said.
“The race I would really love to win with her next year is The Nivison (a 1200m Group 3 feature run in spring in Sydney for mares four-year-old and upwards).”
Kate Nivison inevitably was involved in breeding and racing thoroughbreds, given both sides of her family (Nivison and Tait) are synonymous with the industry.
