Pakenham rider Steven Noll rode three of the six winners at Bairnsdale on Saturday.District jockey David Taggart joined the party with two victories on the sixrace card. By Brad Kingsbury
WHILE the racing spotlight was on the big metropolitan meetings at Caulfield and Randwick on Saturday, Pakenham jockeys Steven Noll and David Taggart were busy kicking home winners at Bairnsdale.
Between them the pair won five of the six races on the Bairnsdale program with Noll taking the overall honours with three victories.
He piloted the winners of the first, third and fifth races, while Taggart booted home the winners of races two and six, adding another double to one he scored at Moe on Thursday.
Taggart, who has had a wretched run of injuries over the past 12 months, said it was just another day at the office and while it was always good to ride winners, Noll was the star of the day.
Noll also took the day’s events in his stride, but punters at the track were well aware of the popular country hoop’s good form, sending all three of his winners out with plenty of support.
“I knew I had a nice book of rides, but it’s good to get them home,” he said.
“I’ve had a big association with Gippsland for the past 10 years and a lot of trainers know me and put me on their horses. That’s satisfying because this is my area.”
The banter in the jockeys’ room after Noll’s third winner was jovial with all his colleagues genuinely happy for him.
While it was a long way from the hustle and bustle of Caulfield or Flemington, the aim and method is the same and the jockeys at the meeting were every bit as competitive as their city counterparts.
