Image: Racing Photography.
Breanna Bourke picked up her third feature race win of the season at the Bligh Amateur Picnic Race Club meeting at Mudgee on Saturday.
Riding for Connie Greig, Bourke jumped aboard the ever-consistent six-year-old mare Valadyium.
Starting at $3.80, the Dubbo galloper proved too classy for her rivals in the $10,000 Bligh Picnic Cup (1850m), winning by 0.38 of a length from the Kieren Hazelton-trained General Partner (Sebastian Galea, $20) while 2.64 lengths back in third was the Natasha Hall-Antonio-trained Azoustic (Nicholas Perrett, $4.80).
Bourke explained it was a somewhat muddled race, where Valadyium was made to work for the win.
“She raced really well,” Bourke said.
“It was a different run race; they went hard into the first corner, and over the back, they jammed the breaks on, and she was climbing all over the heels of the one in front of her.
“Then the pace went on, and she got left flat-footed and bogged down in the softer ground, but she got up and moving again, and I never doubted her; the leader kicked clear, but we were able to reign him in really quick.”
After missing out at Leeton, Moree, Coonamble, and Mallawa, Bourke was happy to put a winless run behind her on a very good Mudgee racecourse.
“It’s been a very lean run, and it was the first time riding at Mudgee, so it was nice to get a win on the board,” Bourke said.
“It’s a beautiful long straight, a bit hilly, and coming into the straight, it’s downhill then uphill to the post, but everyone gets a chance.”
While it was Bourke’s first win for Greig, the pair have combined for much success, with the amateur jockey taking 11 rides for the stable in 2022/23, missing a place on just one occasion for a remarkable 91% placing rate.
“It was special to win it for Connie and nice to get the monkey off the back for her,” Bourke laughed.
“It’s funny, the only one (placing) I’ve missed was on old Billy Bent Ear, but it was good to win for her; she has stuck by me.
“Connie has been a big supporter of mine, and the way she presents her horses to race is second to none, and they always race well, and they’re always competitive.”
Bourke is third on the NSW picnic jockey’s premiership for 2022/23 – with 12 wins (17.4%) and 25 places (53.6%) from 69 rides – and she is enjoying a breakout season.
She is fast becoming a trusted commodity, and since April, she’s delivered in feature races all across the state, with the 31-year-old winning the Back O’ Bourke Cup on the Rodney Robb-trained All Words on Easter Sunday before winning the Grenfell Cup six days later on the Dean Mirfin-trained Our Blue Moon.
Having strong connections with trainers Connie Greig, Rodney Robb, Peter Clancy, and Wayne Marsden helps, and the sky could be the limit for Bourke heading into the back end of this season and the beginning of next season.
Connie Greig dominates at Bligh picnics
The state’s leading picnic trainer Connie Greig enjoyed another excellent day at the track, leaving Mudgee with three winners.
On top of Valadyium’s win (see above) in the Bligh Picnic Cup, the Dubbo trainer teamed up with top picnic job Leandro Ribeiro for two more wins.
The pair won the first race with Belle O’Ballee ($3) taking out the 900m Open Sprint, winning by 1.54 lengths from the Geoff O’Brien-trained Super Hot (Wayne Wheatley, $5.50), while Greig’s other runner Jarisi (Breanna Bourke, $6.50) finished in third, beaten 2.11 lengths.
Ribeiro and Greig then won the 1400m Open Trophy Handicap with Pahang ($1.75), the short-priced favourite winning comfortably from the David Smith-trained C’mon And Love Me (Ricky Blewitt, $3.50) in second, while in third was the Peter Kirby-trained Thetis (Sebastian Galea, $9).
Galea, who has brought up recent wins at Moree and Coonamble, enjoyed his best day in the saddle at Mudgee, winning two on the program.
Teaming up with Daniel Stanley, Galea got home to win on Bush Warrior ($5.50) in the 1000m Maiden Plate, beating the Noel Bland-trained Lee Haitch Oh (Tamsin Gough, $3.50) by 0.48 of a length, and in third and 1.36 lengths back was the Clint Lundholm-trained Leopardwood (Leandro Ribeiro, $4).
Galea’s second of the day arrived on the Peter Kirby-trained Her Call ($3.20) in the 1100m Class B Handicap, with the pair edging the Natasha Hall-Antonio-trained Let’sgetridiculous (Tamsin Gough, $3.60) by 0.2 of a length, while 1.89 lengths back in third was the Kieren Hazelton-trained Cuevas (Nicholas Perrott, $4.20).
In the second feature race on the program, Todd Bailey teamed up with Debbie Prest, riding Bizaroo ($21) to victory in the Birkalla Bracelet Collaroy Cup (1000m).
Bailey got enough out of the despised outsider, which won by 0.13 of a length from the Dean Mirfin-trained Kimmylee (Ricky Blewitt, $2.25), while in third and 0.87 of a length back was the Connie Greig-trained Brooklyn Star (Breanna Bourke, $5).
Picnic racing heads to Talmoi on Saturday, with the program the third leg of the annual and historic Golden Triangle following legs at Moree and Mallawa.
For Bligh’s results, click here.
For more on Talmoi, click here.
