ALBURY trainer Brett Cavanough hopes his 11th Southern District Racing Association (SDRA) premiership will not be his last as he builds towards a move to Scone.
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Two washed out meetings at Wagga and Corowa brought the SDRA season to an early finish, with Cavanough claiming his 11th trainer’s premiership.
Wagga-based hoop John Kissick claimed his third SDRA jockey’s premiership, while Nick Heywood captured the apprentice’s title.
Cavanough, with 34 wins, held on to beat Wagga rival Trevor Sutherland by four wins. There was a big gap to Jerilderie’s Phil Sweeney in third, on 22 wins.
Kissick was a commanding winner in the jockey’s title with his 42 winners. Heywood finished second on 31, two ahead of fellow apprentice Brooke Sweeney.
Cavanough’s 11th trainer’s premiership puts him up among the SDRA’s all-time best and it is something he is proud of.
“I think it’s good to be at the top of your game in any sport,” Cavanough said.
“It draws you horses and owners, and it gives you something to get out of bed for...it’s my motivation to be the best.
“Don’t worry, I was keeping an eye on the premiership and if it had got too close, there was a truckload of horses in Queensland that was going to turn up at Gundagai.
“People say you can’t win premierships but when you’ve got them, they can’t beat you either.
“It’s good to win one and great to win 11.”
Cavanough hopes to have his new training base at Scone built by ‘January or February’ and is keen to keep the Albury stable in operation, at this stage.
“Whether I keep the stable at Albury going, I’m not too sure,” he said.
“We’ll see the logistics of it, the numbers at the moment say we can do it but we’ll wait and see.
“I’ll be jamming it into them before then.”
Cavanough said the highlight of his season was the SDRA Championships Heat victory with Steaknbearnaise, while the lowlight was the loss of trainer Bede Murray.
Kissick is thrilled to have won a third SDRA title at the age of 25.
“The aim when I came back here was to win it, so it’s good to get it,” Kissick said.
“I rode 70 winners for the season, which is good for me, but I’ve still got to improve on a few things.
“There was suspensions that I didn’t want, which put me out for a while, so I need to clean up a bit there.”
Kissick’s upcoming move to Canberra has been delayed but he hopes to be there in the next month.
He will still ride at Southern District meetings.
