Cox Plate 2008

1. 

Glenn Boss after his ride on Samantha Miss, Cox Plate 2008

I was privileged enough to have the best spot in the house at yesterday’s Tatts Cox Plate at Moonee Valley.

I was rapt with some of the photos I took in the Winner’s Circle, including the one above, which shows the face of jockey Glenn Boss immediately after the race. Bossy had to lose 5 kgs in 9 days in order to ride Samantha Miss at 47.5kgs, and it really shows in this photo – he looks physically and mentally exhausted.

Maldivian was a worthy winner of the great race, and a good-news story after last year’s disaster at the barriers in the Caulfield Cup.

Click on the photo below for a slideshow of the rest of my photos from 2008 Cox Plate.

Cox Plate 2008

Thanks to Cam for the loan of his camera.

Tarpins at Cranbourne this Sunday

Just a quick update on Tarpins. He ran a solid fifth last start at Kyneton, led around the straight and ran on well. He was coming third 50 metres from the line, but the leaders cut him off and Rawiller had to stop riding. He finished only 1.7 lengths behind the leader. Trainer and jockey were both rapt with the run.

He’s racing again at Cranbourne on Sunday in a 2025 metre race. The stable expect him to give a strong showing, now he’s had two solid runs under his belt and is back to his favoured distance.

1.20 pm – Race 3 Horse 3 – Jockey is Brad Rawiller again and he’s out of barrier 5.

We’ll be heading out there on Sunday to watch.

Happy punting.

Sorry to disappoint

Someone googled this to get to my site:

was bruce clark a jockey in australia

Hate to disappoint you mate, but the last time I was under 60kg I was in grade 6…

This horse is hoping like hell I don’t hop on.

Tarpins starts a new campaign

Tarpins in the mounting yard

Tarpins started off a fresh campaign with a run over 1400 metres at Bendigo yesterday.

Hopes weren’t too high – he’s being trained for 2000+ metres later in the spring, and it was a pretty strong Class 2 field.

He came in second last (10th of 11) but was only around 6 lengths from the winner and hit the line fairly strongly, which was what we had hoped.

We were fortunate enough to have gun jockey Brad Rawiller on board, fresh from his big win on Weekend Hussler on Saturday. I was very impressed with Brad – he conducted himself with the uiltimate professionalism, doing the meet and greet before the race then providing a detailed debrief after the race.

Next stop for Tarpins will probably be a 1700 metre race at Warrnambool on 23 September. Stay tuned.

Trainer Jamie Edwards and Jockey Brad Rawiller

More photos are here.

Tarpins’ grandfather wins Kentucky Derby

I was fortunate enough to receive a comment on my blog the other day from Kerry Nott, the breeder of Tarpins.

Anyway, it turns out Tarpins’ dam sire (that’s his mother’s father for all you non-horsey folk) was none other than Sea Hero, who won the 1993 Kentucky Derby, as well as a couple of other major Group 1 races in the states.

I’ve included the link below. When I played it for Wakes, she was sooooo excited – I think she forgot it was a replay from 15 years ago!

Tarpins details – MVRC Friday night

9.15 pm AEST

Race 6, Number 6, to be ridden by champion jockey Damien Oliver out of Barrier 1.

Tarpins update

Tarpins is nominated for Moonee Valley on Friday night, a 2040 metre NMW race.

Barring any training mishaps during the week, he will definitely start.

Look for us in the Winners Circle.

What’s the opposite of ‘Winners are Grinners’?

For those who don’t know, Tarpins finished 8th in the Tasmanian Derby on Saturday.

As you can see, Wakes and I took it all in our stride. A far cry from our ‘Winners are Grinners’ look a few weeks ago.

Congratulations to Write On’s second favourite jockey Daniel Moor for his ride on the winner Mega Boss. Onya Daniel.

Longer report on the day to follow, once the scars heal a little.

More media spotlight for Tarpins

Nice article on the Racing & Sports website today.

For those of you who don’t know, Wakes & I are off to Hobart tomorrow to watch Tarpins run in the Tasmanian Derby on Saturday. It’s been a very exciting few weeks for us since his last win at Geelong. Hopefully he’ll run up to his ability and be in there with a chance.

Hobart (Elwick) Race 8 Number 6 at 4.06pm.

Watch out for some serious party antics if he does happen to win.

Tarpins at Geelong – The Movie

Footage of Tarpins winning at Geelong, thanks to Rloani: