Cloughmore’s golden June run continued on Saturday with a double at Ellerslie. Only the day before the much improved Miss El Bee Dee had completed a double of her own at Timaru’s Phar Lap Raceway.
We all knew that The Jungle Boy was a more than handy horse but even his most enthusiastic admirers were expecting no more than a strong finishing run in the $25,000 Chevalier Produce Mile. The track conditions were in his favour and he was aided by a clever ride from top jockey Matthew Cameron but what was really impressive was his determination not to be headed by the very good winter milers Matost and Taking the Mickey.
It appears that the son of Jungle Pocket and the good producer Ballina Wave will be heading to Melbourne next month with the express aim of winning some nice handicaps over ground. Given Saturday’s performance, one would not want to bet against this happening.
Just one race earlier on the Ellerslie card, the Terry Archer- bred Splitfire broke through for her maiden win. Her previous form had not indicated that she was capable of winning a good race at any level on a major track but her determined finish over 1400 showed how wrong I – for one – was. The Keeper mare is out of the speedy SP Mi Signora, a very challenging mare to provide mating advice on. She had previously left nonentities by Zabeel and Stravinsky (2) but did leave the very good Malaysian Group 1 winner Professional Man to Royal Academy. Her last foal, a now 2YO filly by Any Suggestion, has recently been named Mi Idea.
Nothing’s ever perfect in racing and it was disappointing that The Jungle Boy’s half-brother Rising Tide could do no better than fourth in the open stayers’ event at Awapuni. Still, we did learn that running him close to the pace isn’t the way to go – so it wasn’t all bad news.
