The Galleywood Hurdle at Warrnambool has been marred by the death of veteran galloper Tuscan Fire, who was pulled up quickly by jockey Brad McLean after jumping a hurdle on the far side of the track.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The horse cleared the obstacle, but damaged a near hind pastern and needed to be euthanised as a result.
Tuscan Fire, who was an experienced jumper - he had won twice and been placed on four other occasions over obstacles - was the second horse to die at the carnival following the first-day demise of novice Cliff's Dream in a maiden hurdle.
Gavin Kenna, a part owner of Tuscan Fire, said connections had no regrets about him running over jumps, explaining that the galloper had brought joy to not just his owners but to their community.
He told racing website G1X_Racing: "We need to stand tall".
"We know it's a dangerous sport but we are in it because we love it. In every stable there might be 30-40 horses in work, but it is the jumper that is the one that is looked after the most.
"Tuscan has brought a [Terang] community together around him. There is so much good to come out of this," Kenna said.
Meanwhile, premier trainer Darren Weir and his Irish jockey John Allen landed a jumping double, including a feature race success with improving young jumper Gingerboy, the heavily backed favourite.
Weir and Allen have been the stars of the Warrnambool show so far this year, the trainer sending out four of the six jumping winners over the first two days, while dual-purpose jockey Allen, who rides on the flat and over the jumps, has scored four times over obstacles.
Gingerboy is shaping as a future star of the winter game having reached the height of his ability level on the flat.
Weir always believed the six-year-old son of Elvstroem would have a bright future over hurdles.
He didn't, however, think he would reach such exalted status so quickly. The original plan had been to target a novice event at Warrnambool, but when another Weir jumper, Now And Zen, met with a setback at home the decision was made to set Gingerboy a more ambitious target, especially after he won well at Sandown in April.
"He went well enough there to suggest he was going to run well here. He looks like he has got a really good future at it. He makes his own luck by getting out in front and rolling along.
"We were always dropping the hint to the owners that at some stage he might make a good hurdler. He didn't really lose his way, but he was getting up in the weights on the flat and it was just time to do something else. He is a beautiful, sound horse, he loves jumping, it was the right move and the owners were really supportive of it," Weir said.
The top trainer/jockey combination were also on the mark in the opening Decron Maiden Hurdle when a former Coolmore-owned inmate of the Aidan O'Brien stable in Ireland, Waxing, won at his first attempt over hurdles.
The six-year-old is a son of one of the world's hottest stallions, Galileo, and had been brought to Australia by Lloyd Williams, who regularly raids the Coolmore stocks in search of Melbourne Cup candidates.
Waxing failed to make the grade on the flat in Australia, only managing to win a benchmark race at Geelong. But, says Weir, jumping hurdles looks like being the making of the gelding.
"He was a bit hard to catch, but maybe the next time it might all come together and we can mix a bit of flat racing and jump racing because he can stick on," said Weir. "If he doesn't come back on the flat it looks as though he has a future at the jumping game."
Local trainers always like to strike at the Warrnambool festival and Peter Chow, landed a nice prize when Lord Tennyson in the hands of Jarrod Fry picked up all the bonuses on top of the $27,500 first prize by scoring in the Inglis bonus race for three-year-olds.
