Sport
19 September, 2022
Fast Train steams home for cup win
LOCALLY owned and trained Fast Train has taken out the 2022 Atherton Cup, racking up successive cup wins for Tolga trainer Janel Ryan.
Fast Train was the favourite with a starting price of 2/1 and with jockey Shane Pawsey aboard, the seven-year-old gelding, took line honours in the Open Handicap run over 2000m.
Owners, the Poggioli and Watson families, who picked up $11,700 in prizemoney, must have been happy and surprised at the win, given Fast Train only managed a fifth in the Cairns Amateur Cup last weekend.
Second in the Cup was the Alex Malliff trained Love on Sunday and another of Ryan’s horses, New King placed third.
This is the second local cup that Malliff has had to settle for second place, with another of his horses, Necessitas, coming second in Mareeba Cup on 3 September.
The other feature race on the card, the Costa Well Grown Benchmark 50 Handicap over 1400m, was taken out by Laudeylou, a five-year-old mare trained by David Reynolds and ridden by Pietro Romeo, followed in by Vulpes and Action Shale.
The meeting kicked off with the Cottage Café Maiden Plate over 1000m, taken out by The Lout, trained by Megan Purvis and ridden by Pietro Romeo, ahead of Dream Love and race favourite Fine Impact.
According to the Steward’s Report, the start was delayed when jockey S. Sheargold, who was aboard Myzah, was kicked in the lower left leg behind the barriers. After being examined by ambulance officers, he was cleared to ride.
Race 2, the Tolga Hotel Class B Handicap run over 1000m, was won by Antique Lace, trained by Alex Malliff, and ridden by Rachel Shred, followed by Denise’s Pride and Kid Mac.
Before Race 3 could start, officials permitted jockey Masayuki Abe to ride Our Chiquilla despite that he was 1.5kg over the allotted weight. Trainer S. Cooper requested the jockey be able to ride given there was no other suitable rider available, with Abe copping the $300 fine that came with the permission.
Our Chiquilla managed a second place in the Central Tyre Service Open Handicap over 1200m, beaten across the line by the Sharlee Hoffman-trained Narda Shar with Scott Sheargold aboard, with Macipenko placing third.
Race 4 on the card, the Savannah Campers & Trailers Qtis Ratings Band handicap over 1200m was taken out by Rambeau, ridden by Masayuki Abe and trained by Stephen Massingham, with Smarty Lee coming in second ahead of Masared.
