FRANKSTON TIMES scoreboard
Smart filly salutes for Laurie By Ben Triandafillou MORNINGTON-based racehorse trainer, Matt Laurie, topped off Kennedy Oaks day at Flemington on a high as his talented filly, Bleu Roche, saluted in the last event on the card. The three-year-old daughter of Fastnet Rock saw the Flemington straight for the first time and scored a narrow but tough victory against her own age and sex in the $200,000 Group Three World Horse Racing Roses Stakes (1100m) on Thursday 8 November. The up-and-coming filly held off a wall of horses with the Clinton McDonald-trained filly, Causeway Girl, and the Lee Curtis-trained Meryl both being beaten by just under a head for second and third, respectively. Trainer Matt Laurie said he’s excited with what lays ahead for his talented filly.
“I thought she was a pretty good horse,” he said. “Her run the other day at Moonee Valley was enormous so I started to get a little bit worried that maybe she’d spent everything 10 days ago, but she’s backed that up with a really great performance. “It was her fourth start in her first prep and she’s now a group winning filly, so we’ve got a lot to look forward to.” When looking at where Bleu Roche would head to next, Laurie hadn’t quite put his finger on an exact race but said it would likely be one of high quality. “Everything is on the card,” he said. “We’re flying.” “She’s obviously a class filly and we’ll be looking at some pretty smart races [with her].”
Minor Margin: The Matt Laurie-trained filly Bleu Roche (middle) holds off a wall of horses to win at Flemington. Picture: Supplied
Speedster: Nathan Riali flies through the Stawell Gift heats. Picture: Supplied
Riali out to win first Hastings Gift PRIDE Performance sprinter, Nathan Riali, will be out to try and claim the first ever running of the Hastings Gift on Saturday 17 November at Thomas Barclay Oval, Hastings. The Ivanhoe resident who travels down to Seaford and Frankston to train under head coach Matt Carter certainly knows what it takes to win a Gift. Having been competing across the country for the past five years, Riali has won the 2014 Ballarat Gift, the 2014 Northcote Gift, the 2016 Davenport Gift and the 2017 Rye Gift. He even finished second in the iconic Stawell Gift just last year. Riali said he now hopes he can go a long way to winning the $8,000 purse that’s up for grabs in the Men’s Gift. “I’m really excited for it,” he said. “The squad
has put a lot of hard work in behind the scenes to get ready for it.” “Training with Matt Carter has definitely helped. We’ve been training about six times a week in the normal build-up but we’ve started to taper off a bit now so that we’re right to go for the main day.” “It certainly will be a great event and I’m really enjoying it and that’s the main thing, to be loving what you’re doing.” Since joining the Gift’s circuit in 2013, Riali has moved his handicap down from 5.5 metres to 2.5 metres which he believes he’ll be close to running off at this year’s Hastings Gift. Despite having a lower handicap, Riali said he’ll still be in it to win it. “I’m definitely going to give it a good crack,” he said.
Ty races to Western Series victory By Ben Triandafillou UP-AND-COMING junior Motocross rider, Ty Godfrey, has topped off his 2018 season by successfully taking out the Western Series final in Colac on Saturday 27 October. The Tyabb 12-year-old led the series by 50 points with one round to go and finished the final round in third place, providing him with the overall series victory. Ty’s father, Matt Godfrey, said it was great to see his son get around the track and finish the year on a high.
“He finished third for the day, but he didn’t have to finish on top to win overall, he just had to get around the course safely,” Matt said. “He rode pretty smart and did what he had to do to keep the win. He had a minor stack in practise, but he came home safe, so he was pretty happy with himself. “He keeps a fair bit to himself, but he obviously gets a good buzz out of it and that’s the main thing. No matter the result, as long as he’s enjoying it and having fun then all is well.”
Ty finished the series with a 37-point margin over the rest of his competitors. While the season is over, Matt said his son, Ty, will still undoubtably be zipping around their property on his minibike.
Racing Away: Ty Godfrey, 12, finishes the motocross year with an overall victory in the Western Series. Picture: Supplied
Clay target club land national praise
Massive hit: Jane Vella (left), FACTC president Paul Calvi, Laetisha Scanlan, and Charlie Galea celebrate the FACTC’s highly successful Australian awards night. Picture: Supplied.
PAGE 26
Frankston Times 13 November 2018
THE FRANKSTON Australia Clay Target Club (FACTC) collected several awards over a highly successful weekend in New South Wales from Friday 2 November to Sunday 4 November. The club won four awards at the 2018 Shooting Australia Awards for Excellence night on Saturday 3 November before also taking home numerous medals from the ISSF Skeet and Trap NSW State Title / Shooting Australia Open. At the awards night, FACTC won the Club of the Year award, the Volunteer of the Year award, the Grassroots Coach of the Year award and the Female High-Performance Athlete of the Year award. The Volunteer of the Year award was won by FACTC secretary Jane Vella, the Grassroots Coach of the Year award was won by Charlie Galea and the Female High-Performance Athlete of the Year award was won by FACTC member Laetisha Scanlan. The awards took into account shooting clubs from all around Australia and also involved all three shooting codes, being shotgun, pistol and rifle. In the shotgun class alone, there were around 300 clubs
eligible for the award. Frankston Australia Clay Target Club secretary Jane Vella said it was an outstanding achievement for the club and its members. “It was a good weekend for us all,” Vella said. “We were nominated for four categories and we were finalists in all of them. We then managed to win them all. “We’ve put a lot of effort into the shooting sports and trying to grow it as a whole because grassroots is where it all starts for all of the professionals.” While in NSW, the FACTC members also found success at the ISSF Skeet and Trap NSW State Title / Shooting Australia Open which were held at the Sydney International Shooting Centre (Cecil Park Gun Club). On top of winning her Female HighPerformance Athlete of the Year award, Commonwealth Games gold medallist Laetisha Scanlan also won gold in the Shooting Australia Open as well as being named the High-Performance Series Winner for Ladies Trap in 2018. Scanlan also won a gold medal in the
mixed team’s event alongside James Willett on the Friday night. Another Commonwealth Games competitor and FACTC member, James Bolding, also competed at the state titles. Bolding won gold in the Shooting Australia Open before also being named the High-Performance Series Winner for Men’s Skeet in 2018. FACTC members, Mat Costa and Keith Ferguson, also competed in the Shooting Australia Open where they finished third and fourth respectively. Keith Ferguson went on to also win his AA Grade in the NSW state titles. The state titles were the last selection event for the early-2019 World Cup events. The Australian National Championships in mid-January held in Brisbane will also be used as selection for the later-2019 World Cup events. To conclude the year, the FACTC will also be hosting the Universal Trench State Titles where 96 competitors from around Australia will be competing. The event kicks off on Friday 23 November and will run until Sunday 25 November.