Jockey Wendy Peel celebrates second successive Louth win

Jockey Wendy Peel has won the last two Louth Cups on Austin and Valadyium however those wins have been four years apart. No, the Louth Cup is not an Olympic Games event, the reason for the four year gap being the planned annual Louth meetings were abandoned in 2020, 2021 and 2022 due to either the COVID pandemic or wet weather.

Rodney Robb from Nyngan was the trainer of the 2019 winner Austin while Valadyium won the 2023 Cup for Dubbo trainer Connie Greig.

The much anticipated return to racing at the iconic outback meeting attracted a probable record crowd of around 5,000 on Saturday and it was a thrilling finish to the 2,000 metres Nutrien Walsh Hughes-Don Le Lievre Memorial Louth Cup.

Beg Me led around the home-turn from Costas and Valadyium and it then became a great battle down the straight between those three Finishing slightly the better, Valadyium (Peel, $3.60 favourite) won by 3/4 length from Beg Me (Ken Dunbar, $4.40) with a short half head to Costas (Jake Barrett, $4.40).

Peel then gave the Connie Greig trained Merdeka ($2.20 fav.) a nice run before winning the 1,700 metres Shindys Inn Benchmark 45 Handicap from the leader Planet Ex (Dunbar, $5) and Equilibrium (Paul Zerafa, $6).

The first leg of a treble for Greig was Linden Tree ridden by Orange-based apprentice Will Stanley in the 1,200 metres Arrowfield Stud Benchmark 50 Handicap.

Sons Of Bourke (Barrett, $2 fav.) looked the likely winner when dashing to the lead in the straight but was overhauled and beaten a short neck by Linden Tree (Will Stanley, $3.50) with over two lengths to the third-placed Lenny’s Lad (Chelsea Ings, $13).

In a very tight finish, Valadyium, ridden by Wendy Peel, won this year’s Louth Cup by three-quarters of a length from Beg Me (Ken Dunbar) with Costas (Jake Barrett) a short half head back in third place. ▪ Photo courtesy of Klae McGuinness Photography (More of Klae’s brilliant photos from Louth can be found on his Facebook page.)

Stanley had a memorable day as he landed a winning treble, Bush Warrior, Tonatrix and Linden Tree.

Bush Warrior was beautifully presented in the mounting yard by Wellington trainer Daniel Stanley and raced up to look the goods in the 1,000 metres MacDonald & Co Wool Brokers Class 1 Handicap.

Parked behind the leaders, Bush Warrior (Stanley, $4.20) sprinted to a one length win over Blueskin (Barrett, $2.20 fav.) and Pressita (Peel, $2.30).

First up for Narromine trainer Terry Fulwood after 23 starts in Maiden company, Tonatrix gave most of the 17 bookmakers a losing result when winning the 1,400 metres Rice’s Back Bourke Splashe Cola Maiden Handicap.

The well supported Tonatrix (Stanley, $6) tracked the leaders then took control to score by over two lengths from Vivalicious (Ings, $2.60) and Ready For Lift Off (Dunbar, $2.70

Dubbo jockey Ken Dunbar earned praise for an excellent ride on the Bryan Dixon Jnr Gilgandra trained Heza Wise Guy in the opening event, the 1,000 metres Port Of Bourke Hotel Maiden Plate.

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