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Hawkesbury Winners At Bathurst, Taree and Cessnock

3 minute read

Rookie Hawkesbury apprentice Zoe Connally clinched a breakthrough success at Bathurst on Monday at only her third race ride.

Picture: (Mark Evans/Getty Images)

Connally, 18, was only cleared to begin race riding in early July.

She landed her maiden win on the $19 chance Jonjo's Comet for co-trainers Mitch and Desiree Kearney, to whom she is apprenticed.

Her memorable day was made more exciting by having her parents Tom and Lisa on course to watch their daughter make a winning start to her riding career.

"Zoe joined us about three months ago and it was great to be able to provide her with her first winner," a delighted Mitch Kearney said.

"She is a real hard worker and deserved this success.

"Zoe gained her licence at the Hawkesbury trials a fortnight ago and we couldn't be more pleased for her."

Connally claimed 3.5kg of her 4kg allowance on Jonjo's Comet, who was resuming from a spell and had no trouble overcoming a wide run to hold out fellow Hawkesbury rival and favourite Black Star Bowie.

The young jockey made her riding debut at Goulburn last week and then rode at Kembla Grange before her Bathurst success.

Jonjo's Comet has "won" a four-horse maiden Handicap at Kembla Grange on December 1 but lost the race in the stewards' room.

He was resuming at Bathurst, not having raced since February, to give the Kearneys their seventh win for the season.

. Hawkesbury trainer Jamie Thomsen made the trip to Taree on Monday with the underrated Red Notice to notch back to back wins.

Red Notice won in a tense finish to boost his record to four wins from only 16 starts.

Thomsen has done a superb job with the rising six-year-old, who nearly died 18 months ago when an abscess was discovered in his spleen.

It was Thomsen's sixth winner this season.

Hawkesbury trainer Brooke Somers could not have wished for a better conclusion to her most successful season with a satisfying win at Cessnock on Tuesday.

Somers made it six wins for the 2018-19 racing year when C'est La Vie (Bob El-Issa) led throughout in the Maiden Handicap (1350m).

To say the lightly-raced Animal Kingdom filly continues to be a work in progress would be an understatement with Somers thrilled to secure a good outcome for her owners before she turns four on Thursday.

"We got her from a metropolitan stable when three of her original owners wanted to keep her and bought out the remaining 70 per cent," Somers said.

"C'est La Vie was virtually unrideable when we got her but we kept working with her.

"My mother Tricia does a lot of dressage work with the filly, and the owners gave her a small interest in appreciation."

C'est La Vie was barred by stewards and forced to trial to their satisfaction when she hung badly at her previous start at Goulburn on July 12 with an inexperienced apprentice and ran wide on the home turn.

Somers made a number of gear changes and got her clearance when she won a Rosehill trial over 1030m, beating subsequent Kembla Grange winner Agosto.

"That was C'est La Vie's fourth start for me and it was rewarding to win for the owners who had faith in me to train her," Somers said.

"She is a lovely filly with definite ability and has earned a break. With maturity, I'm sure she will continue to improve."


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