3 minute read
Female riders have enjoyed a run of feature race success around NSW in the past week.
Newcastle based Alison Threadwell led home an all-girl finish in the $50,000 Queen Of The North at Port Macquarie last Friday to land the biggest win of her career.
Threadwell kept the rich race in local hands for the second successive year when she got home on the Neil Godbolt-trained Al Nova.
Al Nova joined last year's Port Macquarie-trained Queen Of The North winner Leviosa when she beat Melissa Brown's mount Grand Feeling and Priscilla Schmidt on Moneysaver in the feature race for fillies and mares.
Al Nova is only a 3YO and was pitted against a strong field of seasoned race mares. Her race record now reads five wins, four seconds and four thirds from just 15 starts for earnings in excess of $100,000.
Al Nova is raced by a group of owners that involve the family of champion jockey Robert Thompson from Cessnock including his father Arthur Thompson.
Ironically Robert Thompson, a winner 12 months ago on Leviosa, elected to ride Who’s Ready in the event and finished last.
It was a huge day for the Godbolt stable as the leading Port Macquarie trainer won four of the eight races.
At Braidwood on Saturday Guy Walter's apprentice Kayla Cross landed the Braidwood Cup for top Canberra trainer Keith Dryden on front runner Acta Non Verba.
Dryden missed the win as he had to travel to Sydney to start Vilakazi Street at Rosehill.
Acta Non Verba led and held off all challengers to win by a short half head and give Cross her 70th career win.
Tara-Jane Mitchell was the star of the day landing a winning double while Hawkesbury apprentice Claire Nutman ended a good day for the girls with a win on Sports Model, trained by her father Richard Nutman and owned by her family including her grandfather, the veteran race caller Paul Ambrosoli.
Ambrosoli made the trip from Sydney to cheer home the mare to only her second career win.
The day also marked a first for senior jockey Roly Saxton as he claimed his win on McGovern was the first time he had ridden a winner at Braidwood in a career spanning more than 25 years.
