Jervois brings it

By David Nagel
JERVOIS was the winner of the highlight race – the 54th running of the $40,000 MJ Bourke Memorial Hurdle (3200m) – at Pakenham on Saturday.
Named after the late Michael Bourke, the iconic race was the curtain closer of the jumping season and one of the Pakenham Racing Club’s feature jumps events.
Jervois, trained by Robert Smerdon and ridden by Rowan Waymouth, continued his love affair with the track, making it two from two at Pakenham in the last three weeks.
Starting at odds of 7/1, Jervois held off the Darren Weir trained Gotta Take Care to win by a length to pocket the winners’ cheque of more than $25,000.
Another enormous contributor to the local racing scene was recognised with the running of the $12,000 Herb O’Neill Memorial race. O’Neill passed away in 2010 and was a mentor to many in the industry, including local trainers and race organisers, John Gunning and Julien Welsh.
The Tony Vasil trained Mikey’s Magic started a $1.80 favourite, but had to work hard for his half-length victory over Westella Magic, with a similar margin to Beau Baron in third place.
The win was the first leg of a running double for jockey Noel Callow, who took the riding honors when he partnered the Shea Eden trained Novaspirit to score in the last of the day.
Corinella based Eden is a trainer on the rise and one to keep an eye on over the coming months. His strike rate in September is extraordinary.
Since the start of spring, Eden has saddled up 11 runners for four winners, three seconds and a third.
The Pakenham Racing Club’s next meeting will be the Evergreen Turf Guineas Day on Saturday, 8 October.