Monday, June 21, 2010
It just dozen get any better than this
Jockey Prebble and trainer Fownes get six wins each on record-setting day at the Valley
Alan Aitken
An inspired Brett Prebble rampaged through Happy Valley like a man clubbing baby seals yesterday as he shook the meeting by the neck to claim a unique piece of history for himself, a share of it for trainer Caspar Fownes and left Douglas Whyte's championship fightback a bloodied mess.
Prebble became the first jockey to win six races on a single programme in Hong Kong's racing history, combining for five of them with Fownes, who landed one other to become only the second trainer ever to saddle up six winners.Yet, on any other day, Prebble would have been sorry to even be at the races - half a world away, his eight-year-old son, Thomas, was having a special moment of his own that the Australian jockey missed.
"Thomas plays in an Australian Rules football team in Melbourne when he can and my wife Maree took him down to play today," Prebble said after his triumphant afternoon. "If he plays often enough, then he will be able to play in the grand final later in the year. Well, you wouldn't want to know it, he's kicked his first goal today, which is a big thing for him and I'm sorry I wasn't there to see it. Lucky I was kicking a few goals of my own here - I know he'll be thrilled with that."
Twelve times riders had previously landed five wins on a day - Glyn Pretty, Peter Miers, Gary Moore (twice), Basil Marcus (twice), Eric Legrix, Robbie Fradd, Christophe Soumillon, Whyte (twice) and Prebble himself - but those records count for nothing after Prebble took the mantle solo yesterday.
"I've had five here before, and in Australia a few times, but six doesn't happen very often for anyone, especially here, and it means so much to have done it with Caspar," said Prebble, who has virtually assured himself of the jockeys' championship for the first time with yesterday's scoreline.
"Caspar and I have a great relationship, I think we work very well together and understand each other so it is so fulfilling for us both to do this on the same day. When Maree rang me before racing and asked how many I would win I said, `I don't want to say'. I really thought I could win six but you never want to say it out loud or it doesn't happen."
Most thought Fownes had also made history with his six winners but Jockey Club officials dusted off their records to find that trainer Cheung Hok-man had performed the feat in the early years of the professional racing era, landing six of the nine sand races at Happy Valley on November 15, 1975.
In the amateur era, George Sofronoff had also won six on two occasions but neither of those feats was achieved in an environment as competitive as current Hong Kong racing.
"I thought I had a few live chances today and I am so excited to have done this, whether it's been done all those years ago or not," Fownes said after all but cartwheeling through the winner's circle.
"Funny part is that I thought probably the two best of my runners were Jumbo Gold, who won, and Potential, who didn't."
Fownes' six has put a weak pulse back into a trainers' championship that looked all over - he trails John Size still by seven wins - but Prebble has left perennial champion Douglas Whyte with a mountain to climb, trailing Prebble by nine with six meetings to run.
http://racing.scmp.com/freeservice/news/news20100621a.asp