The pair combined again on Saturday to win the 2023 Walgett Cup. Image: Racing Photography.
If Plectrum is the North West and Western Cup’s King, his regular jockey Chelsea Ings must be the region’s reigning Queen.
Plectrum – trained in Baradine by Graeme Brooker – is a rising 10-year-old who boasts a good record of 58 starts for nine wins and 14 placings, earning over $110,000 in prize money.
Seven of his nine career victories have been for Brooker, while Ings has been in the saddle on six occasions.
In fact, the pair have combined to win four Country Cups wins during the past 12 months.
The pair took out the 2022 Walgett Cup (1400m) as a $6.50 chance before winning the 2022 Carinda Cup as a $3.40 pop.
In April, the dynamic duo were back at it again, winning the Binnaway Cup as a $10 outsider, and on Saturday, they made it back-to-back wins in the Walgett Cup.
“He has been an absolute marvel for me,” Ings said.
“He’s a funny old horse, and you’ve just got to let him roll along, and he’s not got much of a sprint, so you need to let him do it in the first half of the race.”
At Walgett, Plectrum commenced as a $4 chance. As usual, Ings got the most out of the Pluck gelding, with the pair rolling along in front before winning by 0.48 of a length from the Jane Clement-trained pair Hardyo (Kelsey Lenton, $3.20) and Amazingly (Wendy Peel, $$3.50), which coincidently dead-heated for second.
Despite his excellent record, Plectrum can be a barrier rogue, but Ings keeps him calm enough behind the gates.
“He’s a very special horse, and with him, I get a boost of confidence because I know he will give everything he has,” Ings said.
“He has a barrier problem, and he can be a bit naughty at the gates, and he’s been scratched a few times and been given warnings, but I seem to calm him down; we seem to click.
“We’ve had one mishap at the gates before, but that was at his home track, and I think the secret with him is to race him away from home.”
Leading into their Walgett win, the Baradine galloper had finished down the track at Dubbo last month, but Ings said that effort gave her the confidence that Plectrum would be right to go at Walgett.
“I was saying to Graeme, we were well clear of them when he was first-up at Lightning Ridge, but he hit the grass and didn’t appreciate it, but on the sand, he was pretty comfortable, and he seems to appreciate some motion and movement in the ground,” Ings said.
“Then we went to Binnaway, and he likes soft tracks, so he won well, but at Dubbo, he needed a fitness run, and the track was hard, but at the beginning of the race, he travelled beautifully, and I thought he was going to give me something.
“Even though he got beat, I told Graeme after the Dubbo run, ‘They won’t beat him at Walgett’.”
Ings was on the money and believed the nine-year-old felt as good as ever.
“He’s still a young horse in an old horse’s body,” Ings laughed.
“He’s still cheeky as well, and Graeme has got him in the best condition ever, and they have all done a fantastic job to keep a horse his age going as honest as he is.”
For the Orange-based Ings, who works for Alison Smith, the 28-year-old has enjoyed a good few weeks in the saddle, landing a win on the Brett Thompson-trained Dysnomia at Gulgong on June 11 before Saturday’s victory in the Walgett Cup.
Ings is working hard to deliver good results, and she thanked her new manager Shantle Merrick for organising new opportunities, indicating that the future looked bright.
“I’m always looking for opportunities, and I have had a lot of success with the Brett Thompson stable, and he has his apprentice and riders, but he always gives me opportunities when he can,” Ings said.
“A few other people are giving me rides, and I’m starting to branch out; plus, Shantle Merrick is going a fantastic job; I’m building a friendship there, and it’s great to chat with her on Sundays and look ahead at what’s on, and she does all the things I can’t do when I’m working.”
“She is bringing in new opportunities, and I feel like things are about to go really well.”
Ings is open to taking rides, and anyone interested in the jockey’s services can call Shantle Merrick on 0420 672 489.
Record crowd for Walgett meeting
It was another big day of Western Racing Association racing at Walgett, with a record crowd on hand for what turned out to be a bumper six-race community program.
While Plectrum’s win in the Walgett Cup stole the show, Brewarrina product Ronald Simpson kept up his fine form, riding a double, winning on both the Cecil Hodgson-trained Twyborn Affair ($2.50) in the 900m Maiden Plate and Kelly Smith-trained and locally-owned Zoucan Toucan ($2) in the 1400m Maiden Handicap.
Three-kilogram claimer Kelsey Lenton capped off a good day for the Clement stable, winning the 1600m Benchmark 50 Handicap on Jade ($5) and fellow three-kilogram claimer Jayden Barrie did an excellent job winning on the Rodney Robb-trained Hurn Court ($7) in the 900m Benchmark 50 Handicap.
Walgett regular Andrew Banks also left with a winner, riding the Greg O’Neill-trained Outback Cod ($7) to a comfortable win in the 1300m Class One Handicap.
For all Walgett results, click here.
