Shomari, aka Charlie, put in a do-or-die effort to take out the Charlie Booth Memorial Race at Healesville on Saturday. He is pictured with part-owners Nicole and David Butterworth and daughter Taylah and trainer Nancy Butterworth.By Kath Gannaway
CRANBOURNE horse trainer Nancy Butterworth took out the Charlie Booth Memorial Race in Healesville on Saturday.
Butterworth’s horse Shomari and champion amateur jockey Adam Bodey, a Cranbourne track rider, combined to win the race, named in honour of the late Charlie Booth.
Booth was the first secretary of the Healesville Amateur Racing Club and was a regular at the club’s meetings and AGMs before he died in May at 104.
Butterworth said Shomari answered best to “Charlie”, his paddock name.
Healesville was an important race for the six-year-old who, if aspiring to a long career on the track like his namesake, needed to perform well.
“If he didn’t win today he was going to be finished,” Butterworth said, causing Charlie’s ears to prick up a little.
She thinks he may have had an inkling anyway.
“If they knew the alternative, they’d all run fast,” she added.
If Cranbourne’s Charlie has anything like the staying power of Healesville’s Charlie, he could be around for a while yet.
