Baradine trainer Graeme Brooker and his wife Adele McNaught-Brooker had their sights set on the 2022 Binnaway Cup with old stager Plectrum, but their plans never came to be after the meeting was washed out.
Still, the Pluck gelding out of Vestry went on to win the 2022 Walgett and Carinda Cups for regular jockey Chelsea Ings, while he finished third in the Gulargambone Cup before eventually heading out for a spell.
The rising 10-year-old returned from a 15-week spell earlier this month, finishing a respectable fifth in the 2023 Lighting Ridge Cup.
Still, Brooker and connections had their sights set on Saturday’s Exchange Hotel Jack O’Brien Memorial Binnaway Cup (1300m).
Boasting an excellent second-up record (9:4-1-0), Ings was again in the saddle, and going around as the outsider of the field at $10, Plectrum proved too strong for his rivals.
After jumping well from gate two, the pair rolled along in front before pulling away for a 0.74 of a length win from the Brett Thompson-trained Searchlight (Shayleigh Ingelse, $4.40), while in third and 4.67 lengths back was the Kieren Hazelton-trained Order Of Merit (Andrew Banks, $5).
“He was always going to be hard to beat; I had something on him at 10/1,” Brooker laughed.
“He’s good second-up and loves the wet; he’s now won three in the wet.”
Plectrum can be funny at the barriers, and he was the last to go in, but he came out well and ‘never got headed,’ according to Brooker.
“He jumped well, Chelsea rode him well, and coming around the corner, away he went, and it was a good win,” he said.
“It’s great, absolutely marvellous, and now he’s won over $100,000 and eight races, and he cost us $4,500.”
Ings has enjoyed a good run on the Baradine galloper, winning five of his six races for Brooker’s stable.
“She seems to like him, and he likes her, and they make a good team,” Brooker said.
“She rode him well; I think that’s five wins now.”
Plectrum will now look to defend his titles in the Walgett Cup on June 17 and the Carinda Cup on July 15.
“He’s pulled up good, and we’ll race him every three weeks or a month and just take our time with him,” Brooker said.
“We’ll go to those races, but he’ll need a run in between, and we’ll find one, then go to Walgett and follow that pattern from last year.”
The results were well shared at Binnaway.
Garry Lunn prepared a winning double as Jarmanagic (Billy Cray, $2.50) won the 1100m Benchmark 45 Handicap and Weave That Webb (Shayleigh Ingelse, $1.90) emerged victorious in the 1760m Benchmark 45 Handicap.
Kieren Hazelton and James Rogers combined to win the 1000m Maiden Plate with Orreza ($6), the Geoff O’Brien-trained Tandem (Ronald Simpson, $2) won the 1200m Class Two Handicap, and the Luke Pepper-trained Mean Girls (Williams Stanley, $3.80) was a class above in the 1300m Maiden Handicap.
For Binnaway’s results, click here.
