Jockey makes Cup history

From the glamour and glitz of Ladies’ Day to the sheer excitement of the Broome Cup meeting, the Broome Turf Club turned it on last week.

A colourful crowd of more than 3000 were on course for Ladies’ Day, for a six-event program, which included two of the signature races of the season.

The first of these was the Carbine Club-Mungrup Stud Mares’ Classic, which attracted a field of nine horses.

From the start it was a hotly contested affair, with the eventual winner Penthouse Pet, positioned behind the leading group by jockey Peter Hall, which moved up four wide on the turn into the straight, and under vigorous riding, held on to win by a long neck.

The Broome Sprint, worth $50,000, is an annual classic, that attracts a top field of sprinters, and this year was no exception.

Last year's winner, Lookatim Go was also in the field to defend it’s title. There was a race for the early lead with the Darwin sprinter Your Excellency leading the field into the home straight, but a heady ride by Ben Paterson on Roger the Roman soon had the favourite in the lead, and went on to win by nearly two lengths, with Lookatim Go, coming from last to finish second.

The victory gave Roger the Roman five straight wins on the track, and a four-point lead in the Horse of the Year award.

Other highlights of Ladies’ Day included a winning riding treble to Peter Hall, two wins to jockey Chloe Pearce, a double training victory to Ben Pearce and Fiona Scott, and Steele Casey’s first training success in Broome, when his horse Tirreno dead-heated with Rituals in the last race of the day.

Cup Day last Saturday attracted a bumper crowd that arrived early for the last meeting on the 2017 calendar, and they were not disappointed. A top temperature of 29C and an early seabreeze made for perfect racing conditions, and the nine-event program got under way at 12.20.

Favourites again did not disappoint with no less than five winning on the day, and non-stop entertainment, which included Allure Pearls fashions on the field.

The winner Katrina Kelly wore a beautiful blue outfit, ideally suited for racing, and there are lots of pictures elsewhere in this edition, highlighting the day’s fashions and folks.

In the Allure Pearl Classic racegoers saw an amazing performance from Pass the Hat, which got up by a long neck and established a new weight-carrying record for the race.

The Broome Cup attracted a capacity field of 14 horses. Simone Altieri took flashy chestnut Gloryland straight to the front and was never headed, going on to win by two lengths. Altieri became the first female jockey to win the Cup in its 126-year history,

The season’s training honours went to Dave Casey, Peter Hall won the Leading Jockey award and Horse of the Year, with five wins, was Roger the Roman.