Hawkesbury husband and wife team Tara and Phillippe Vigouroux will be making more trips down the Hume Highway after coming away with a double at Wagga Picnic raceday on Saturday.
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The pair had never raced at Murrumbidgee Turf Club but took out the feature with At Twilight.
Victory in the Wagga Picnic Cup (1800m) pushed the six-year-old mare over the $100,000 mark as she heads towards the next stage of her career.
The breeding barn beckons for the daughter of Holy Roman Empire and the race was an afterthought for the Vigourouxs.
The mare was headed to Kooringal Stud to be bred to Zariz and the timing was right to give one last chance on the track.
“The first idea was just to take her down to Zariz but I said to Tara, my wife, we might as well race her one more time,” Phillippe said.
“Her travelling mate made it as well.”
At Twlight ($4.60) was able to chase down run away leader Alert Bert ($6.00) to score a one-length win in class record time on the Riverside track.
Lumped with 61 kilograms, the mare was doing her best work late as she took non-claiming apprentice Clare Nutman to victory.
The late change of plans paid off for the Hawkesbury couple and they haven’t given up hopes of a racetrack return if they can get the timing right.
“If we can have her in foal as quick as I hope she can come back to work and probably race again once or twice,” Phillippe said.
“If the timing is right I would like her to be ready to race again over 1600 metres in the Cowra Cup, which she won two years ago.”
“It's a big idea but you need to have ideas and dreams and try to get there.”
Their day was capped off by Enigami who took out the last race, the Romano’s Hotel Class 1 Handicap (1050m), from Macca’s Magic.
Purchased by the Vigourouxs only three months ago, she’s already won back her $1500 purchase price.
“It's a great buy and she has a couple of more wins in her,” he said.
After two success stories on their maiden voyage to Wagga, the Vigourouxs have vowed to return to the city.
“It was the first time but not the last,” Phillippe said.
Just under 3000 people enjoyed the brilliant sunshine trackside with the crowd was slightly up on last year.
Aribaa finally got a reward for a long campaign for Wagga trainer Trevor Sutherland as he took out the Commins Hendricks Class 3 Handicap (1660m).
The gelding has been racing since March and was finally able to breakthrough for a win back in distance.
The gelding was placed over 2500 metres earlier in his preparation but scored a 2.8-length win over Kavieng on Saturday.
