Bourne for success

By Brad Kingsbury
SEYMOUR trainer David Bourne made a good call when he excused himself early from the William Inglis yearling sales at Westmeadows to attend Sunday’s Peet Limited Pakenham Cup.
Soon after he was holding the main trophy high when New Zealandowned galloper Mr Toff saluted in the $100,000 feature at a solid price of $7.60.
The sixyearold gelding, ridden perfectly by Blake Shinn, held off Correct Amoondo (Daniel Moor) and Arrowsweep (Mark Pegus) to score in a threeway finish.
The result completed a featurerace double at the meeting for Bourne, after he took out the David Bourke Memorial Handicap with his stable veteran Wintrow, half an hour earlier.
“It’s quite a big day now,” the laconic trainer smiled after the cup win.
“Both my horses have been a bit unlucky in recent runs and I thought they’d go all right. The race panned out well for Wintrow and we always thought Mr Toff would be a good country cups horse.”
The former New Zealand galloper has been a part of Bourne’s 12horse training operation for 12 months after being sent across the Tasman by former trainer and good friend Terry Kennedy.
It was Bourne’s first runner in the race and went almost exactly to plan.
Correct Amoondo and Botero came across from to lead the field from their wide barriers and Mr Toff settled quietly in sixth position behind favourite Time Matters.
Fire Hazard and Arrowsweep made moves at the 600metre mark and Shinn decided to follow them forward.
He balanced Mr Toff up in the straight and ran down the leaders to score by three quarters of a length.
Shinn said that he had to hunt Mr Toff forward a little early but was always confident after the solid pace was set.
Bourne paid tribute to Shinn, who had suggested that blinkers be applied to the horse after its unlucky Kilmore Cup run recently.
“He’s had a bad run with barriers but we always thought he would get a good run in this race when he drew well (barrier three),” he said.
“I wouldn’t say he was set for this race specifically but it was one of the country cup races that we thought would be good for him.
“Terry Kennedy trained him in New Zealand and he’ll be sitting at home very happy. He was a nice horse over there before I got him and Terry’s a good judge.”
The trainer thanked sponsors Peet Limited and made special mention of his loyal strapper Kylie Baines.
Local runner Evil Master for John Leek settled near the rear and made a great run to finish sixth, while his other starter Gold Attire only plodded to the line.
Leek was not disappointed with either and said they would run in next Saturday’s Stony Creek Cup.
Pakenham trainer Brian Rowe said his mare Celtic Rise was caught back in the field early and did not handle the softer ground.
“She just didn’t handle the slightly wetter patch down the back at about the 800 (metre mark). By the time she got on the bit again they had slipped away and it was too late,” he said.
Rowe said that Celtic Rise would also be entered for the Stony Creek Cup.
Bourne was also thrilled with eightyearold Wintrow’s win in the David Bourke Handicap.
Jockey Nick Hall timed his run to perfection, grabbing the leaders on the line and putting a length on them at the finish.
“He’s been going good and he was a bit unlucky in the (Pakenham) Apprentice’s Cup recently,” Bourne said.
While he did not know David Bourke personally, Bourne said he knew family members through his association with the racing industry and was honoured to win the event and accept the trophy from David’s widow Joan in front of extended family members.