(pictured).
Both the winner and the runner-up, who was shooting for a training-driving double for Laura Wilson, are by the former champion pacer and Inter Dominion winner Lennytheshark
Shepparton horseman David Moran and local trainer Susan Hunter were the shining lights of Monday night’s Echuca meeting.
Moran drove three winners, two of them for Hunter, and the other was a debutant two-year-old pacer he trains, Ronnie The Hammer.
He landed the double for Hunter on pacers Be A Good Scout and Twilight Beach.
Ronnie The Hammer certainly got no favours in his win. He was threewide early outside to the leader Comn Sharky, where they remained for the rest of the race with the Moran-driven pacer getting the better of the duel near the finishing line.
Both the winner and the runner-up, who was shooting for a training-driving double for Laura Wilson, are by the former champion pacer and Inter Dominion winner Lennytheshark.
Moran’s second win was on the Susan Hunter-trained Be A Good Scout, who worked hard to get to the lead and then staved off a wall of challengers in the run to the judge.
An eight-year-old son of BGS Folly, Be A Good Scout was a winner three starts previously at Shepparton on April 17 and has now won four races since joining the Hunter barn. He has now had nine career wins, with Monday’s success taking his prize-money earnings over $50,000.
Twilight Beach who completed the training double for Hunter and driving treble for Moran was also an all-theway winner.
A five-year-old mare by Somebeachsomewhere, Twilight Beach has now clocked up three career wins from 20 starts since joining the Hunter stable.
Week may go from good to great
It’s been a good week for Byrneside trainer-driver Laura Wilson and she is hoping it gets better tomorrow night at Melton.
Wilson was rewarded for her patience with 10-year-old pacer Elysian Palace who saluted at Monday night's Echuca meeting.
Tomorrow night she lines up the highly talented Alot Like Louie from a pole-line draw in the $150,000 APG Vic Gold Bullion final for three-yearold colts and geldings.
The son of Sweet Lou is in careerbest form with a barnstorming finish in his heat to Dee Roe, beaten only by a half-neck. Before that he had strung together four successive wins and with his ideal draw tomorrow night will get his chance to secure the most lucrative win of his 19-race career.
On Monday night at Echuca, Wilson won an early battle to hold the lead on Elysian Palace, who led throughout to beat Muriel and Our Christiano in a busy finish.
It’s the first win the pacer has had in 17 starts for Wilson since joining her stable in November last year and only his second career win.
But the son of Major In Art is lightly raced and it was only his 27th trip to the races.
Family salutes
Elysian Palace’s win completed a family driving-running double in the first two races at Echuca with Laura’s husband Damian Wilson saluting on the Gary Merkel-trained iron mare Roslyn Gaye in the opening event.
Wilson produced a perfectly timed front-running drive on the Tongala-trained Roslyn Gaye, who made it win number 21 with the win.
There have also been 23 seconds and 31 thirds with the latest win taking her prize-money earnings over $150,000.
Last year Roslyn Gaye had 55 starts for four wins and 13 minor placings and she was having her ninth run this season on Monday night.
Tongala has been in the limelight lately with the deeds of young football star Harley Reid, but Roslyn Gaye is also doing her bit to keep the town in the news.
Ivar goes far
The Weidenbachs of Wahring have a happy knack of bobbing up with long-priced winners and they did it again at the Echuca meeting.
Trainer Paul Weidenbach and his reinsman son Kevin hit most early quaddie punters for six when they produced Ivar to win the Arch Electrical trot at 60/1.
Ivar, a five-year-old son of Majestic Son, was having only his second start for the Weidenbach stable and
nd his 36th career start, which had produced only one other win and six third placings.
Kevin Weidenbach settled Ivar four back on the pegs over the sprint course race of 1755m and got the trotter out into clear running on the home bend before mowing down his rivals in the home straight, rating a respectable 2.02.7 for the trip.
I Spy a winner
Talented Shepparton trainer-pacer Spyglass made it nine wins from just the 15 career starts with a dominant performance at Wagga’s Riverina Paceway last Friday.
The four-year-old gelded son of Sweet Lou was eased back to near the rear of the field by his reinsman Nathan Jack at barrier rise and then got a three-wide tow into the race over the final circuit on the back of American Legacy, before going on to a soft win in close to career-best 1.53.9 mile-rate time.
Trained by Wayne Potter, Spyglass was coming off a second placing in the Coolamon Cup on May 5 to the Ellen Jones-trained Keto, who made it four successive wins with his victory that day.
Keto finished fourth in last Friday’s race won by Spyglass as the $3 favourite.
Spyglass paid a generous $4.60 on the tote. Third home in the race also had a Goulburn Valley flavour with the Craig Turnbull-trained Hiranya finishing the race off strongly to grab the minor money.
Spyglass has had two seconds and third to go with his nine wins.
It’s Summertime
Kyabram-owned pacer Summerdays obviously likes the Globe Derby track in Adelaide.
He has won five races and four of them have been at Globe Derby.
The latest win came last Saturday night when he sat on the back of the pacer Rocking With Charm and ran that pacer down in the concluding stages for an impressive win.
A seven-year-old mare by Village Jolt and owned by Kyabramites Greg and Rod Caldwell, Summerdays is trained by Ingrid Smith and driven by Michael Smith.
Summerdays has now won two of his last three starts and was placed second in the other, so is racing in career-best form.
Rising fast
First out and first home for the first time. That was the story of Otis Rising’s win at the Swan Hill meeting on Wednesday night.
And another first associated with the win was that it was the first start for new trainer Craig Turnbull.
A Sweet Lou four-year-old, Otis Rising had 27 starts without a win before transferring to the Turnbull stable at Tatura North, but punters were expecting him to break his duck on debut for his new stable and sent him out a $1.80 favourite.
Reinswoman Abbey Turnbull utilised Otis Rising’s barrier two draw and he toyed with his rivals in a front-running role. He had a winning margin of nearly 13m over the runner-up, the Echuca-trained Feng Shui Star, with the Kyabram-trained Shes Lovely filling the minor placing in slick 1.56.8 mile-rate time for the 1750m dash, which included a 57.4 last half.
Meetings coming up:
Shepparton Harness Racing Club stages a nine-event card tonight with the first race at 5pm and the last at 9pm.
Two Goulburn Valley-trained pacers, Victortheinflictor and Our Mystery Bet, are chasing a hat-trick of wins at the meeting. Shepparton also stages another meeting next Thursday.
Today: Shepparton (n)
Saturday: Melton (n)
Sunday: Cranbourne (d)
Monday: Horsham (d)
Tuesday: Bendigo (n)
Wednesday: Ballarat (n)
Thursday: Charlton (d) Shepparton (n)
Friday: Mildura (n)
Saturday: Melton (n)
