Khoekhoe salutes at Terang

THE 2024 Sungold Milk Terang Cup saw unlikely heroes emerge with the thrills of country racing on full display.

Connections of Khoekhoe were thrilled to notch victory in the 2024 Sungold Milk Terang Cup.

Terang and District Racing Club president Shane Scally said even fields made for an exciting day of racing.

“The racing was very good thanks to very event fields across the whole meeting,” he said.

“The quality of the horse was very high and a lot of the horse were coming from leading trainers in Ballarat and Melbourne.

“That led to the quality of horses we had, including a very good horse winning the Terang Cup.

“The Melbourne trainers were very prominent in their attendance, including trainers and jockeys who usually would not come to Terang – including Damian Lane who had just won a group one in Sydney.”

The full schedule of races provided end-to-end action, with no shortage of come from behind victories emerging from tight packs.

Scally said he believed a good quality field kept everyone in reach of victory throughout the day.

“The track played very fairly, which is why we were seeing what we were seeing,” he said.

“The others could win on the rail, in the middle of the track or come down the outside.

“It was a very fair track for all concerned.”

The day of racing kicked off with the Christians Bus Co Maiden Plate, with Symphony of Colour (Trainer: M.J Ellerton, jockey: D.M Lane) surging in the final 400 metres to deny Denial (T: A. Noblet, J: J. Allen) and Grinzinger Sun (T: D.T O’Brien, J: L. Riordan).

The 1000 metre Bet356 Top Tote Plus Maiden Plate saw Sea Mist (T: M. Laurie, J: D.M Lane) lead early and never look back, getting home first ahead of Wichitall (T: S. Wilde, J: T.J Hope) and Youraway (T: L.Smith, J: F.W Kersley).

The 1856 metre Terang Co-Op Maiden Plate was a back-and-forth affair with Early Warning (T: P.APreusker, J: D.Bates) find a late wind to secure victory after sitting in fourth with 400 metres to go.

Herrlich (T: D.T O’Brien, J: D. Moor) crossed second while Everlasting Kiss (T: T. Busuttin, N. Young, J: J. Allen) crossed third after sitting in eighth with 400 metres to go.

Imminent Storm (T: P.W McKenna, J: J. Fry) claimed an unlikely victory in the 1406 metre Bet365 Maiden Plate after sitting in eighth until the final 400 metres.

Whistle Down (T: S.W. Wilde, J: L. Meech) held second for much of the race while Hellish (T: D.T. O’Brien, J: L. Riordan) faded to third after spending a good chunk of the race in the lead.

The 1406 metre Jim McKinnon Stakes saw Eugenius (T: S.P. Nichols, J: L.E. Bourke) join the list of winners to have found themselves towards the back before a late surge, racing home from eighth with 400 metres to go, saluting ahead of Montjeuify (T: M.S.S Cumani, J: R.L Hammond) and Duo Perna (T: T. Dabernig, J: H. Grace).

The 1206 metre Westmeath Handicap had connections cautiously celebrating as they awaited the replay to be sure.

The long-odds Shane Nichols-trained Beour Bay (J. L.E Bourke) managed to nudge ahead in the final 50 metres to record an unlikely but thrilling victory over a surging Keitel (T: M. Price & M. Kent Jnr,J: D. Yendall), the race favourite which got out the gate poorly and did well to race back from twelfth to finish second ahead of Home Rule (T: M.I Raymond, J: J. Allen).

The adulation of unexpected heroes continued in the highly-coveted 2156 metre Sungold Milk Terang Cup, with Khoekhoe ((T: M.S.S Cumani, J: E.J Walsh) saluting.

Recreant (T: D.R Smith. J: N. Farley) finished close behind in second while the in-form Glitter ‘N’ Gold (T: L. Smith, J T. Madden) rounded out the top three.

The final race of the day, the 1606 metre Iverleigh Hotel Cup, saw Etara (T:S.W Wilde, J: J. Noonan) keep a nose among a tight pack while Mark Of The Man (T: A.J. Purcell, J: L. Meech) could not quite find the extra stride, however both held off a fast-finishing Super Snitch (T: P.W. McKenna, J: J. Fry) in third.