S O UTH AU S T R AL IAN JU M P S R AC I N G
Newsletter
August 2016
Irish Team for Jumps Challenge Announced
A Celebration of SA Jumps Racing To celebrate Irish Jumps Day and the conclusion of a successful 2016 jumps season in South Australia, SAJR is hosting A Celebration of SA Jumps Racing on Thursday 25 August. The event, to be held at the Arkaba Hotel (150 Glen Osmond Road), is an opportunity for the SA jumps racing fraternity to come together with friends and colleagues from SA, interstate and overseas to celebrate the notable South Australian jumping successes this year, and to relive some of the season’s highlights. There will also be a chance to meet the Irish jockeys who are in Adelaide for the Australia v Ireland Challenge series, and to mix with some of the leading figures in Australian jumps racing. Entry is free to members of South Australian Jumps Racing (SAJR) and the Australian Jumping Racing Association (AJRA), and is only $10 for non-members and guests. Proceedings start at 7.00pm and there will be a selection of complimentary bar snacks, with drinks at bar prices. SAJR looks forward to welcoming all jump racing enthusiasts and supporters to what will be a wonderful way to celebrate the end of the 2016 jump racing season. To book your place, please email jumpsracingsa@outlook.com August 2016 - South Australian Jumps Racing
The 2016 Irish National Hunt Jockeys’ Team to take on Australia in this year’s Jockeys’ Challenge has been announced at the Galway Races by President Michael D Higgins. Jockeys Katie Walsh, Luke Dempsey and Ian McCarthy will fly out to join Australia-based jockey Johnny Allen, to make up the Irish team. This is the 30th consecutive year that an Irish team has been invited to Australia to participate in the jockey challenge. There have already been 40 contests staged in the two countries, with Ireland taking the honours on 24 occasions, Australia winning 15 times and one draw. Team Australia has won the Australia v Ireland Jockeys Challenge for the last two years and Irish Team Manager, Sean Lynch, is keen to see the Irish team get back to winning ways. Luke Dempsey and Ian McCarthy will fly out with manager Sean Lynch on August 20th and will compete in the first of two racedays at Murray Bridge on August 24th. They will be joined by Katie Walsh and Johnny Allen for the second part of the contest on ‘Irish Day’, August 27th at Morphettville. Irish day at Morphettville ranks as the second biggest raceday of the year in South Australia, attracting a large Irish contingent. While in Australia, Katie Walsh will seek to emulate her brother Ruby’s success in the 2015 Grand National Steeplechase in Ballarat, by taking part in the feature race on the final day of the Sportsbet-Ballarat jump racing festival on August 21st
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2016 Easter Racing Carnival at Oakbank
Reviewing its 2016 racing season, including the Easter Racing Carnival, Oakbank Racing Club is delighted to report that it has been another successful year in terms of attendance, high-profile racing identities lending their support to the Club, and the outstanding quality of the racing, including some notable local successes. Around 50,000 racegoers attended the iconic meeting at the Adelaide Hills track over three race days, with attendances up on all three days in comparison with 2015. Once again, the Club was especially pleased with the large number of enthusiastic interstate visitors who came to Oakbank for the Easter Racing Carnival and the contribution they made both to the atmosphere of the event and the local Adelaide Hills economy. In a first for the Club, the season was launched with a lunch held in the Members’ Dining Room in February and attended by
more than 100 Adelaide racing enthusiasts and members of the Hills community. Featuring a range of Adelaide Hills wines produced by sponsors Somerled, Goldings and Sidewood, the lunch was hosted by legendary South Australian sports personality Ken ‘K.G.’ Cunningham and featured as the special guest speaker Melbourne Cup winning trainer Darren Weir, who was visiting Oakbank for the first time and whose promising jumper Now and Zen triumphed in the Somerled Hurdle on Easter Monday.
MERCHANDISE
Show your support for SA Jumps Racing 1 SAJR STUBBY HOLDERS $10
Enjoy icy-cold beer while proudly displaying your support for SAJR!
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SAJR MUGS $10 A cup of tea or coffee need not be a mundane experience! Be the envy of the neighbours with a SAJR mug. SAJR CAPS $15 Show your support for jumps racing wherever you go in this smart cap!
Auld Burns and Mutajara
The Club was also delighted to welcome the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup, Michelle Payne, to the Easter Racing Carnival for the first time, with rides on both days. Michelle’s brother Patrick Payne is a regular visitor to Oakbank, having taken out the Great Eastern Steeplechase in 2014 and 2105 with his champion chaser Lord of the Song, and so the Club was extremely pleased to welcome another member of one of Australian racing’s premier families and greatly appreciated Michelle’s support of the Easter Carnival as one of Australia’s best jumps racing meetings. In another first for Oakbank and South Australian racing, the Club was also delighted to welcome to the Easter Racing
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Carnival Australia’s only female race caller, Victoria Shaw, who called races on both days and added her own unique sense of style and glamour to the event. As well as the Listed UBET Oakbank Stakes on Easter Saturday (won by Scratchy Lass), the high quality racing included a total of six jumps races over three meetings, with highlights being wins for local chaser Nishiazabu (trained by Kevin and Heather Frew at Murray Bridge) in the Thomas Foods International Steeplechase at the Gourmet Gallop meeting on 13 March, followed by a stirring victory in the time-honoured Von Doussa Steeplechase at the Easter Carnival, along with a gallant second two days later in the Great Eastern Steeplechase. August 2016 - South Australian Jumps Racing
The field in the Somerled Classic Hurdle at the 2016 Easter Racing Carnival at Oakbank (Image credit: Craig McIntosh) There were other strong performances by South Australian trained horses, most notably Shiny Manners, trained by John (MJ) O’Connor, who finished second in the Young Members’ Hurdle on Easter Saturday, along with Grant Young’s Spying on You and Bold Zamour, trained by John A O’Connor, who finished fourth and fifth respectively in the Von Doussa Steeplechase. Easter Monday saw the 140th renewal of the Great Eastern Steeplechase and victory by another hardy champion of Australian jumps racing – Thubiaan, trained by Eric Musgrove and ridden by Martin Kelly, in a race that established the 8yo gelding’s credentials as one of the country’s most respected chasers of
recent years. The hugely popular win had an enthusiastic crowd on its feet cheering him home and showed once again the support that jumps racing at Oakbank continues to receive. The success of the 2016 Easter Racing Carnival demonstrated yet again Oakbank Racing Club’s unique place in both South Australian racing and the hearts of the wider SA public. However, the Club is continuing to build on its success with a number of new and exciting innovations set to be put in place for next season, and is looking forward to a bumper 2017.
SA Parliament Select Committee on Jumps Racing The SA Parliament Select Committee on Jumps Racing is continuing its review of the sport in South Australia. A significant number of people and organisations made written submissions to the Committee in support of jumps racing, with Members of the Select Committee also attending the Easter Racing Carnival at Oakbank, as well jump races at Mt Gambier and Warrnambool.
August 2016 - South Australian Jumps Racing
In addition to written submissions, Members of the Oakbank Racing Club were invited to appear in person, as were a leading members of the Australian jumps racing industry from both SA and Victoria, including Nick and John O’Connor, Joe Cannizarro, Eric Musgrove, Pierce Morgan, Paul Hamblin and Margaret Lucas. It remains unclear as to when the Select Committee will hand down its final report. Originally scheduled for the end of June, it now seems likely that October is the earliest we can expect its release. At this stage, we all remain
optimistic that the Select Committee – which has been very fair and thorough in its enquiries – will express support for the continuation of jumps racing and that our sport will soon be afforded the opportunity to begin growing again. SA Jumps Racing would like to record its appreciation to the many people across Australia and from around the world who have written submissions and signed petitions in support of jumps racing in SA.
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CONTACT US SUPPORTING AND PROMOTING JUMPS RACING IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA
www.supportjumpsracing.com jumpsracingsa@outlook.com SA JUMPS RACING CHAIRMAN Joe Cannizzaro
2016 Grand National Hurdle and Steeplechase at Morphettville 11 June 2016
SECRETARY Penny Keen TREASURER Ali Brook Penny Keen PR & MEDIA Roma Williams Mark Angus
SA Grand National Day saw jumps racing return to Morphettville with a larger than average winter crowd in attendance.
Grand National Hurdle 3480m 1st – Honey Steel’s Gold (Tom Ryan), David Hayes & Tom Dabernig 2nd – Earthbound (Steven Pateman), Eric Musgrove 3rd – Buymebychance (Paul Hamblin), Bill Smart 4th – Twin Tea Bags (Brad McLean), Darren Weir 5th – Compelled (Martin Kelly), Eric Musgrove
Grand National Steeplechase 3480m 1st – Nishiazabu (Paul Hamblin), Kevin & Heather Frew 2nd – Zataglio (Martin Kelly), Eric Musgrove 3rd – Spying on You (Shane Jackson), Grant Young 4th – Bold Zamour (Patrick Flood), John A. O’Connor 5th – King Triton (Tom Ryan), Pat Hyland
Nishiazabu followed up his outstanding Oakbank form, where he won the Von Doussa Steeplechase, with victory in the SA Grand National Steeplechase at Morphettville
Coming Soon... 4
Saturday 27 August 2016 Morphettville 3200m Irish Hurdle 3500m Irish Steeplechase
Saturday 15 April 2017 Oakbank 2900m Restricted Hurdle (BM 120) 3250m Von Doussa Steeplechase
Saturday 1 April 2017 Oakbank 2900m Somerled Hurdle 3250m Thomas Foods International Steeplechase
Monday 17 April 2017 Oakbank 3600m Somerled Classic Hurdle 4950m Great Eastern Steeplechase August 2016 - South Australian Jumps Racing