New England racegoers were treated to the skills of Robert Thompson in a headline act they saw the champion hoop boot home a treble at the recent Armidale Cup meeting.
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Thompson kicked off the day with a strong win on the 2-year-old Zizou filly Unknown Destiny in the Thunderbolt Handicap over 1100 metres for Scone trainer John Ramsey.
Thompson had been on board at the filly’s two previous runs, a third at Scone and win at Muswellbrook.
The second winner came via The Rundown, a 6-year-old gelding having his 18th career start. The victory made it four wins and seven minor placings from 18 starts.
The feature sprint on the program, the Wild Oats Newmarket was next on the list with Thompson guiding second up performer Tableaux to a strong victory. The Lonhro-Melodramas gelding had been a model of consistency with Thompson sticking to the mount after finishing second at Grafton at his last start.
The Cessnock connection was in full flight at the meeting with Cessnock-based trainer Todd Howlett putting the polish on The Rundown and Tableaux who has now collected more than $90,000 in prizemoney for the connections.
Thompson was on board the Darren Smith (Broadmeadow) trained Full Blast in the cup who finished the race off well to claim third place.
Thompson called in at Port Macquarie on his was home and picked up a win on 3-year-old Brookvale for Wyong trainer Alan Denham. Brookvale started a short priced favourite and was never in doubt, winning by two and half lengths.
He took his number of career winning rides to 3990 after another superb ride to take out Sunday’s $30,000 Wellington Cup on Are You Sure, a 6-year-old gelding trained by Cameron Crockett at Mudgee.
Thompson settled his mount midfield and then came with a sustained burst to score a solid victory, the gelding’s seventh from 25 starts.
Acceptances for Tuesday’s meeting at Scone see Thompson with five rides for the day.
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The win by Yeatman at Broadmeadow on Saturday provided a great thrill for one Cessnock family.
Yeatman, a 3-year-old Excites gelding scored its second win from four starts in the Class 2 handicap by one and a half lengths.
Broadmeadow trainer David Atkins prepares the gelding for Cessnock businessman Mark O’Neill, his wife Elizabeth and family members.