Malabar Spur went one better on last week when taking out the trotter’s race on Monday in the opener at Pinjarra. Trained by Karen Bennett and driven by Lauren Jones, the eight-year-old mare recorded her second win in the state since moving to WA earlier in the year and ninth career victory in 92 starts.
Whos The Dad had kicked away from the field, but Jackpot Joe NZ was just too strong when he mowed him down to win by a half neck in the second, in 1:56:5 over the 1684m sprint journey. Trained by Barry Howlett and driven by Chris Lewis, the two-year-old New Zealand import made it two in a row and is yet to be out of the money in his four-start career.
Chris Lewis walked away with driving honours on the day with a driving treble at Pinjarra. The second instalment of his successful day in the cart came up in race five, when he paired up with the Trevor Wright trained Soho Party Girl NZ to win by half neck over the favourite, Star In Art.
Kevin Charles got the win in race three when Only Five Starzzz defeated the short-priced favourite at long odds, with his son Hayden Charles in the cart. The three-year-old broke her maiden status at start 20, leading all the way to win by 1.1m.
The money was right in the open maiden, with the $1.22 hope, Alta Hurrah NZ taking out the fourth for Aiden De Campo after sitting three wide for the last 1000m.
Major Express NZ has made it five wins in a row when the five-year-old took out race seven. Starting second up from a 17-month hiatus from racing, the five-year-old has made it two in a row this time in, taking his race record to six wins from 11 starts and 5 wins from six starts since landing in WA. The win gave the Howlett stable a training double on the card and reinsman Chris Lewis the last leg of his winning treble.
Manofthepeople made the trip more than worthwhile for York based trainer Maryann White, when the seasoned pacer stepped from the 20m handicap to win by a half neck in the last. Making it win number 10 from 120 starts, the seven-year-old made full use of the sprint lane to run down the leader and take out the standing start in 2:01:3.
