Above: Veteran Cranbourne trainer Laurie Cleary gives visiting Japanese rider Yoko Ota final instructions before her ride on his mare Hi Lite Girl in the seventh race at Pakenham on Sunday. By Brad Kingsbury
CRANBOURNE trainer Greg Eurell had a red letter day at Caulfield on Saturday when his two runners for the day, Shrewd Rhythm and Apache Cat, saluted in $100,000 races on the elite, nine-race Orr Stakes program.
Star two-year old colt Shrewd Rhythm, ridden by Glen Boss, bolted clear to take out the Group 3 Blue Diamond Prelude for colts and geldings and was installed at 8-1 for the Group 1 feature over 1200-metres on 24 February.
Later in the afternoon his stable star Apache Cat, which had already accumulated over $1 million in prize money, gave the Eurell stable two victories for the day after producing a stunning finish to overwhelm a good field in the BMW Stakes.
The victories signalled the start of a good autumn campaign for the popular trainer.
On Sunday the Cranbourne Turf Club held an eight-race meeting at the Pakenham Racecourse, highlighted by a slashing win by Danny O’Brien’s lightly raced gelding Specard in the $15,000 Pakenham Cup Prelude.
Jockey Vlad Duric booted the $3.60 chance to victory in the 1750-metre feature race, and added another two winners to his book, making it a treble for the day.
The day was not without drama after jockey safety concerns were raised due to the strong easterly wind blowing across the track.
During the second race a cloud of dust was raised by the wind and engulfed the field as it rounded the home turn, blinding jockeys and causing fears that horses may panic.
The wind settled down and the six remaining races on the card were completed without incident.
Cranbourne trainers had success in two races with Barry Barnes’ maiden galloper Johan’s Pride taking out the third race and Palmyra Boy winning the final event on the program for popular mentor Wendy Kelly.
