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Flying froggy a busy jockey

3 minute read

Fresh off a treble and a feature race double in Launceston on Wednesday night, Craig Newitt could well pick up where he left off in Hobart on Sunday.

Jockey : CRAIG NEWITT.
Jockey : CRAIG NEWITT. Picture: Colin Bull / Sportpix

The Victorian-based Tasmanian jockey has another strong book of rides with plenty of winning chances among them.

His best looks to be Ole Ola in the BM70 Hcp (1430m), who will be second-up from a spell and back to the track where she has raced five times for three wins.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Craig Newitt had no time to celebrate his Conquering Stakes and 3YO Trophy wins, he was back to work riding at Caulfield on Thursday, before heading to Cranbourne on Friday night.

He will again spend the day at the 'office' with another four mounts at Caulfield on Saturday before heading to Hobart for Sunday's card.

With almost 2300 winners, including 33 at Group 1 level, Newitt was at his best on Wednesday night with a masterful front running ride aboard the Liandra Gray-trained D'Oro Star, who led all the way in the 3YO Trophy.

That win gave Gray her biggest win, and she will set the exciting youngster for the $125,000 Tasmanian Guineas (1600m) in Hobart on 5 January.

"He's a really nice horse; he's shown a lot of natural ability from the start, and we've been pretty excited about him," Liandra Gray said.

"We were hoping he could lead. I got a little bit nervous when he was a little bit slower away than we thought he would be, but he had the speed to cross them."

Sunday's meeting has turned into a nine-race card with the 2100m BM70 that was cancelled due to weather on Wednesday night, now being run as the first race of the day.

My best for the day is Luisana in the Maiden/Class 1 (1600m), race four on the card.

The lightly raced former NSW-trained mare, now in the care of Aiden Nunn, was an eye-catching fourth at her first Tasmanian run in Launceston on 29 November.

Luisana settled back near the tail of the field but finished the race off nicely to be beaten a little more than a length.

The feature race of the day on Sunday is the $50,000 Winzenberg Hcp (1100m) which will see the promising 4YO Geegees Gemstone, a winner of five races and his past three in-a-row, tackle Open company for the first time.

With the addition of the staying race from Wednesday night, Sunday's nine-race card will now commence at 12:20. Brennan Ryan and Richard Robinson will host the coverage on TasracingTV.


Racing and Sports

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