Above: “I’m laughing because I just won a race at Pakenham’s first Oaks Day meeting.” That’s what My Pleasure seems to be saying after his great win in the sixth race.By Brad Kingsbury
A CROWD of more than 2200 people attended Pakenham racecourse for the first ever Oaks Day meeting hosted by the Pakenham Racing Club last Thursday.
Despite heavy rain falling in the morning and several showers during the afternoon the track rated good and then downgraded to dead, raced perfectly and drew praise from officials and racing enthusiasts.
Two Pakenhamtrained horses saluted on the day and both paid handsome dividends.
In the fifth race topnotch local jockey David Taggart booted home Very Elusive for John Gunning at $22 in the 1300metre Fillies and Mares Maiden Plate.
The fouryearold homebred mare, having only its second start, is a half sister to Gunning’s cityclass galloper Lady Lyn and despite being fired up, proved too good and just hung on to beat the fastfinishing Alicia Marie.
“I wasn’t over confident, but I knew she could run and it was a very good effort,” Gunning said.
“I’ve had to be a bit soft on her as far as work goes and there’s still a fair bit of improvement there.”
Taggart had planned to settle the horse off the speed, but she pulled hard and he let her roll in behind early leader Wondering Star and then snatched what proved to be a racewinning break at the 200metre mark.
“She didn’t want any more ground, not another metre,” he chuckled afterwards.
“I was up on the bridle and just let her race. It was a good win really.”
The second Pakenham triumph was in the following race when Joy Bourke’s tracklover My Pleasure made a mockery of a 600metre drop back in distance from its last start, to power home over its rivals in the 1000metre Open Sprint.
Ridden patiently by apprentice Michael Guthrie, My Pleasure was well back at the top of the straight, but lifted and swooped on the leaders to win by half a length.
My Pleasure, owned by Mrs Bourke and her husband Moss, was coming back in distance from 1600 metres, but proved too good largely due to a hometrack advantage.
“I thought the distance might be a bit short for him, but he knows this track and when he got to the top of the straight he knew he was running home,” she said.
“It’s a great thrill for us to win another race at home.”
The Bourkes’ other runner on the card, Pleasure Cruiser, was less fortunate and finished well down the field in the fourth race.
The day was a tremendous success for the club and vicechairman Keith Popovits said it was a promising debut for the meeting with more than 900 people prebooking for the day.
“Everybody was happy and made a big effort to dress up and add something to the day and I think that was great,” he said.
“What we couldn’t control was the weather, but just the same there was a great response from patrons and I think it was a great platform to build on for next year.”
Betting turnover was also excellent with $140,000 oncourse and more than $1 million wagered offcourse.
