A TOUCH of the city came to the country on Sunday when top-class mare Outiska made an absolute mess of her rivals in the $35,000 Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service Moree Town Plate (950m).
Outiska, with three-kilo claimer Ella Drew sitting quietly, travelled sweetly in front to score by a big space.
Trainer Scott Singleton, who prepares a 30-strong team at Scone, said he was honoured to win the Moree Race Club’s feature sprint.
“It’s a privilege to win this race, there’s no better cause than the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service,” Singleton said.
Outiska, backed from $2.30 into a dominate $1.90 favourite, showed her class on Sunday as she lengthened stride in the run home to score by nearly four lengths from Jane Clement’s rank outsider Standing Bear ($81) and Cameron Crockett’s Riva Del Sol ($13).
“She was in really well at the weights and actually carried more weight in town last start – she was thrown in today against a good field,” Singleton said.
He said winning the Town Plate was sweet justice after finishing third in the same race 12 months ago with Comonic.
“Last year, I brought what I thought was a better horse and got rolled as a $1.40 favourite,” he grimaced.
Outiska was ultra-impressive when winning the Moree Town Plate on Sunday (Image Copyright).
Singleton said Outiska would stick to sprint races.
“She’s very good over the short course. Anything further probably maxes her out and she’s not as dominant,” Singleton said.
“We might go to the Hurricane at Newcastle in a few weeks’ time.”
Winning apprentice Ella Drew played down her role in Outiska’s soft win.
“She’s a beautiful horse and I’m so grateful to my boss, Scott, for putting me on her,” Drew said.
“The horse was amazing from the time she jumped and, to be honest, all I had to do was a sit-and-steer job.
“It was a very serious lot of horses and every one of her strides was very economical across the ground, but that’s the sign of a proper racehorse – she’s a very nice horse,” Drew said.
Mollie Fitzgerald brings Gerety back to scale (Image Copyright).
Meanwhile, Inverell trainer Ridge Wilson’s love affair with the Moree track continued on Sunday when stable newcomer Gerety won the 950m B&W Rural Class 3 Handicap, the first leg of a winning double for apprentice Mollie Fitzgerald.
“We’ve only had her a short time, about four to six weeks. She came from Kris Lees’ stable, and they were struggling to find dry tracks for her. She really doesn’t like tracks with any give in them,” Wilson said.
Gerety, specked at double-figure odds to start $7.50, parked behind leader Too Darn Lovely before racing clear halfway down the straight to win by more than a length from the fast-finishing Acotango ($5), with the Too Darn Lovely ($4.80) hanging on for third.
Fitzgerald said Gerety was turned out in perfect order.
“She was beautifully prepared by Ridge and his team,” Fitzgerald said.
“She jumped nicely and the leader set a pretty solid tempo up front, which set the race up really nicely for us.
“We had a nice track in the run home and she was just too strong with the nice, light weight,” she said.
Wilson has built an impressive strike rate since nailing up his shingle at Inverell racecourse.
“I’m just lucky, I think. I’m getting good horses, good rides and I’ve got a great team at home – it’s been a team effort,” he said.
“We got this win today, and she was down in the weights which was really good – that worked for us.”
Words and Image: Bill Poulos
