Prancing With Fire continued the red-hot form of the Fleur Henley stable at Casino on Saturday, winning the $35,000 Casino Cup (1400m).
It was a masterclass ride by Ben Looker, who began well with Prancing With Fire ($3.70) before the pair took a sit in behind the early leaders.
Saving ground on the inside, the 6YO Sir Prancealot mare slogged it out with the Jason Reilly-trained Credit Controller (Noriyuki Masuda, $6), winning by the best part of a length, while in third and 2.38 lengths off the winner was the Samantha McGuren-trained He’s A Copy Boy (Jett Newman, $3.30).
“It was a very good ride by Ben, and nice to get the mare back doing what she does best,” Henley told Country Punter.
Now a four-time winner, Prancing With Fire showed toughness and a willingness to win at Casino despite only being second-up following a second-placed finish in a 1300m Benchmark 66 Handicap at Ballina when resuming earlier this month.
“She’s a lovely, honest mare, and she has always had that trait about her,” Henley said.
“Even her first-up run, Brendan (Lerena) made a bit of a boo-boo and went on autopilot when coming out of the gates, and they ended up going four wide around the corner after starting from barrier two, and she wasn’t entitled to run second.
“She is a good mare and is better when she gets ridden off the pace, rather than having to lead.”
Saturday’s Casino Cup win adds to the Henley stable’s red-hot run of results, with the Grafton trainer preparing six winners from her past 21 starters.
Gravitation (Matthew McGuren, $6.50) kicked off that good run, winning a 1205m Maiden Handicap at Grafton on August 30 before Starzam (Ben Looker, $2.70) won the $30,000 Rousillon (1536m) Handicap at Lismore on September 11.
Henley followed that up with a Bowraville double on September 20, with Spoiler (Ben Looker, $2) prevailing in the 1000m Maiden Handicap and Saskatoon Berry (Ben Looker, $3.70) a comfortable winner in the 1370m Maiden Plate.
Spoiler (Wayne O’Connell, $4.20) then backed up at Tabulam on October 4, winning the 1000m Class Two Plate.
Henley explained that her team had to put a very wet period behind them, during which they turned horses out before upgrades at Grafton’s Clarence River Jockey Club were finished.
“Our new sand track at Grafton is helping a lot. It’s been open since the end of July, and it is a big part of our training program as the bad weather now doesn’t bother us,” Henley said.
“We had a hell of a start to the year, and they ripped up our old track, and in February, the rain started.
“Sometimes, we’d go 10 days without working our horses, and that’s why I turned this mare (Prancing With Fire) out last time in, as she doesn’t like the wet and we couldn’t work her.
“I did that without about five horses in the barn and put the white flag up, as I was not beating the weather, but the rewards are showing now.
“A lot of the team is going well, everyone is starting to get back into form now, and we are getting some good results.”
Henley will likely back up at Coffs Harbour on Saturday, with Golden Copper, Shoot The Diva, and Allberin entered in the 1300m Class Two Handicap.
