Zeftabrook won the big one, a trainer formerly from Coonamble went close to landing the feature double and the offspring of a former Wellington Boot winner beat a top field of sprinters in the Town Plate.
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And they were only a handful of the highlights on Sunday at Wellington.
Due to the lockdown necessitated by the corona virus pandemic, the only spectators on course were the officials and licencees directly involved with the races.
However, an audience from around the world watched or listened to the action unfolding on Wellington Boot day.
Champion jockey Greg Ryan won three of the first four races - on Reward Seeker ($2 favourite) for local trainer Mick Mulholland, on What The Fuss ($2.60 favourite) for Dubbo trainer Kody Nestor and for Muswellbrook trainer Jan Bowen he won on $2.25 favourite Iamacrumpet.
Ryan then set his sights on the $100,000 Wellington Showcase Cup over 1700 metres, but his mount Travancore from the Clare Cunningham stable at Warwick Farm went down by a tiny margin.
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James Rogers put the cat amongst the pigeons when he dashed the $151 rank outsider Mackellar's Love to a 10 lengths lead, going down the back straight.
The 2020 Cowra Cup winner Mackellar's Love, trained at Mudgee by Cheryl Crockett, led by five lengths turning for home and inside the final 200 metres was battling, but still with a handy break.
Over the closing strides, Pirate Ben (Jess Taylor, $18) grabbed the lead to win by a nose from Travancore ($4.40) with a length to the gallant Mackellar's Love ($151) in third place.
Pirate Ben is trained by Damien Lane, who was well known as a talented rugby league player and trainer at Coonamble before moving to Wyong.
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Lane then put the saddle on Girls Kick On for a tough assignment against classy opposition in the $200,000 Heritage Hill Wellington Boot, a famous country race over 1100 metres for two-year-olds.
Ridden by Taylor, Girls Kick On ($21) led for home and gave supporters a great sight before being overhauled and beaten a half length by the $1.70 favourite Zeftabrook (Chad Lever) with another half length to the strong finishing Lady Of Luxury (Winona Costin, $11) from the Bjorn Baker stable at Warwick Farm.
Winner of the Starmaker at Muswellbrook the previous start, Zeftabrook is trained at Newcastle by Kris Lees and owned by an Australian Bloodstock syndicate.
Winning rider Lever for many years was a leading jockey in South Australia and also rode in the Northern Territory before making a successful transition to riding in Sydney.
The $50,000 Wellington Town Plate (1100 metres) saw the Brett Cavanough, Scone trained Another Sin (Kayla Nisbet, $4 favourite) hitting the lead on the home turn then scoring a hard fought win over Bathurst mare Jetgirl (Kate Cowan, $8) and Fussdinado (Ryan, $5).
Sin Sin Sin, the dam of Another Sin, won a Wellington Boot when ridden by Michael Travers for Wagga Wagga trainer Trevor Sutherland.
Proving to be a wonderful broodmare, Sin Sin Sin is also the dam of Yes Yes Yes , winner of the richest turf race in the world, the $15 million Everest at Royal Randwick in October, 2019.
Despite 132 millimetres of rain leading up to the meeting, the Wellington track raced incredibly well, with a Heavy 8 rating.
Mudgee is scheduled to host a TAB meeting on Easter Sunday.
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