MARTINO'S BUSY WEEK PRODUCES GOOD RESULTS
- John Curtis
- 14 minutes ago
- 2 min read
The young Hawkesbury trainer saddled eight runners at five different tracks for two winners and three placings.
And he almost clinched his first ever double.
“That would have been terrific, but I’m not complaining,” Martino said today.
“You have to be happy with the results from the last week.”
Martino began the week by running recent acquisition Tazaral in the Big Dance Eligibility Nowra Cup (1600m) last Sunday at his first start in 12 months, then scored with Doutelle at Orange the following day.
Martino was back on the road the next day to Newcastle where he had two runners on the Beaumont track, and finished third with Tokyo Star in a Benchmark 58 Handicap (1350m).
He then had runners at two different tracks last Saturday; Zambezi River and Lady Zodiac at Dubbo, and All Star at Wyong.
Zambezi River ($7.50), ridden by apprentice Ryan Bradley, won the Class 1 Handicap (1100m), and Martino nearly got the chance to celebrate his maiden double when Lady Zodiac ($13) was narrowly beaten in the Benchmark 58 Handicap (1000m).
“It was nice to get a breakthrough with Zambezi River for Spartus Bloodstock,” Martino said.
“He had a couple of trainers previously, and had run four placings for me until his Dubbo win.
“We soon found out his dislike for heavy ground when he ran last at his first run for us at Hawkesbury in May.
“Zambezi River doesn’t even like a ‘Soft 5’ although he has run some nice races on the synthetic track at Canberra, where all his four placings for me have been.
“He appreciated the good ground at Dubbo at his second run back from a break.
“Lady Zodiac is raced by a syndicate headed by former trainer Anthony Cummings, and was having only her second start since joining the stable.
“She ran on gamely to hit the front, only to be caught in the last couple of bounds.”
Martino also had an interesting runner which debuted for his stable at the Wyong meeting.
All Star, which fetched $1.2m as an Inglis Australian Easter yearling last year and was unplaced in three Sydney starts for leading trainer Chris Waller, was onsold online for $60,000 in May this year.
The I Am Invincible three-year-old was a $21 chance when third to odds-on favorite Brightburn in a Midway 3YO Maiden Plate (1100m) at Wyong.
“That was a good starting point, and he’s still learning to race,” Martino said.
. Zambezi River was Martino’s fourth winner in the first five months of the season, equalling the same number he reached in each of the previous two full racing years.
