SALE: Bannon In The Swing With Form Stayer
Story By Tim Bull
Tuesday, 15 August 2006: Good Swing was Gippsland Racing’s last city winner of the 2005/06 season and last Wednesday he became the first of the 2006/07 season.
He impressively won the 3000 metre handicap at Sandown, coming with his trademark strong finish.
In his past three city starts, Good Swing has recorded two wins and a second when an unsuccessful protest was lodged against the winner after significant interference.
“He will go to the paddock now and have a rest," Bannon said.
"He has done a terrific job this campaign. In his five city runs he was placed on every occasion and he’s really only a pony.
Good Swing has had four starts between 2400m and 3000m on city tracks and has registered two wins and two seconds.
* A relative newcomer to the training ranks in Victoria is Mornington based Martin Condon.
Condon, who produced Go Leica to win the stayers’ maiden at Bairnsdale, moved with wife Karen from Kembla Grange around 12 months to allow him to pursue his passion of training jumpers.
A former jumps jockey in his home country of Ireland, Condon purchased the property of former Aussie jumps hoop Paul Worthington when he moved to Gippsland and now trains out of Sale.
The Condons are expecting twin daughters this week.
* AT Bairnsadle on Sunday trainer Ian Hutchins returned to the winners’ circle when Flash Coupe scored one of the most impressive wins of the day in the 1200 metre maiden.
The $30,000 purchase from the Adelaide Magic Millions sales benefited from two lead up trials.
Part owner, Stephen Byrne, a former runner for AFL club St Kilda, commented “I’ve been on the MCG in front of 60,000 screaming fans, but there is no adrenalin rush like owning a winner.”
Fellow owners Kerry and Lee Selleck are looking to the future with an interest in nine horses with the stable, including six youngsters who were recently purchased at the sales.
After a frustrating run of minor placing over recent times, trainer Hutchins said “that has been a little while coming”.
* TRAINER Allan Douch is being repaid for the great patience he has displayed with talented galloper Short Memories.
The lightly raced six year-old now has two wins from his past three starts and he could not have been more impressive in taking out the 1200 metre C1 at Bairnsdale.
“It was a good win two runs back and then last start at Werribee he got left two and a half lengths and did a terrific job to run sixth. It was a big effort and I thought he would win here today.
“He kept going shin sore as a young horse and we’ve had to nurse him a bit, but we always knew he could gallop a bit,” he said
* SWISS Storm, trained at Stony Creek by Ken Fythe, impressively won the feature event at Bairnsdale on Sunday, the Patties Foods 40th Anniversary Open Handicap.
The six year-old mare was third up from a spell and although coming into the race on the back of two seemingly disappointing performances, Fythe said he was confident of her running well.
“Although she got beaten a fair way first up, I was fairly happy with her run and then last start when I took her off the float at Moonee Valley it was clear she was fairly heavily in season and ran accordingly.
“I thought that if she could run up to her best today she was probably a bit better than most of the others in the field and thankfully that’s the way it turned out,” he said.
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