TOP mare Lady Mironton secured a Wagga Gold Cup start with victory at the Albury carnival last week.
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Wagga trainer Wayne Carroll will now plot her path towards the $200,000 feature without the pressure of needing to win again after she gained exemption from the ballot with victory in the $50,000 Albury Mile (1600m) last Thursday.
It was a strong return to form for the mare, whose preparation had been thrown into chaos in January due to a virus.
Lady Mironton was scratched from last year's Wagga Gold Cup due to an unsuitable heavy track and Carroll is looking forward to preparing the mare for another tilt.
"She'll go towards the Cup now, which is fantastic," Carroll said.
"It was a tough win (at Albury). She had a good blow after the race and there is certainly improvement in her from the other day. Tyler (Schiller) thought she was out on her legs with 50 to go but she just tries.
"It's one of her great strengths. Once she's in a fight, she'll fight."
Carroll said Lady Mironton will have one more run before May 7 in either the Gundagai Cup or Murrumbidgee Cup, whichever looks more likely to present a dry track.
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IT WAS an emotional Ardlethan Cup win for the connections of Let's Get Animal on Saturday.
Let's Get Animal made it two wins on the trot for his new connections when he downed Cryfowl in a photo finish to the $8000 feature.
Let's Get Animal is raced by an all-ladies ownership group, the majority of which hail from Ardlethan.
Collins said it was like winning a Melbourne Cup for the group.
"A few of them are from Ardlethan and run the meeting, they run the bar, the food so it made their day. It was a bit special for them," Collins said.
"They were all bawling. I kind of wanted to take him to something over the Albury Cup carnival but then Ardlethan came up and I thought I better take him there for the owners. They don't care about the money, it was more about the sentimental value."
The win also completed a memorable comeback for picnic jockey Breanna Bourke.
The Ardlethan meeting was her first raceday back in the saddle after 10 months out due to injury.
Bourke's win in the Cup completed a winning double on the day after enjoying her first race win on Benno's Boy earlier in the day.
Bourke works for Leeton trainer Peter Clancy, who was presented with life membership from the Ardlethan Picnic Racing Club on the day.
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ANOTHER special win at Ardlethan on Saturday was that of Benno's Boy in the Trophy Handicap (1200m).
The grand campaigner provided trainer Michelle Borserio with her first win in nine years.
Borserio's last success came at Tumut on February 11, 2012, when Monashee Rumba was steered to victory by her partner Bryan Murphy.
Borserio had only had 17 starters since and was back in the winner's circle with Benno's Boy last Saturday.
Borserio purchased the horse from Trevor Sutherland with the nine-year-old now having 18 wins to his name alongside 53 minor placings from 172 career starts.
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ANOTHER milestone win recently was that of the Cindy Browne-trained Deganway at Leeton last month.
Deganway provided Browne with the first win of her training career when successful in the Class One & Maiden Plate (1600m).
Browne only began training late last year and brought up a winner at just her fifth start.
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WAGGA'S Danny Beasley has made a comeback to the jockey ranks.
Beasley returned to the saddle in Singapore last month and wasted no time getting back into the winner's circle with six victories from 30 rides.
Beasley retired from riding back in 2017 and accepted a position with the Daniel Meagher stable in Singapore, before being promoted to assistant trainer.
With Singapore's jockey ranks diminished since COVID-19, Beasley, 45, decided to make a return to race-riding.
"It's a very unique time we have been living in in the last couple of months, with so many jockeys leaving. I put myself forward for a licence, hopeful it would be considered," Beasley told the Singapore Jockey Club.
"Of course, I was a bit disappointed I was knocked back the first time around, but I didn't give up hope. I fully understood the club's position while remaining positive and not feeling discouraged.
"I told myself it would be nice if it happened, and I'm really glad and appreciative it has. I'm more than happy to start all over again and thank the club for the opportunity."
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JO JO Girl did a brilliant job for connections on the track, and now looks to be leaving her mark in the breeding ranks as well.
Jojo Was A Man was a very impressive winner on debut at Randwick midweek meeting earlier this month.
Jojo Was A Man, owned by the Tait family, is out of Jo Jo Girl and is trained by John Thompson.
Jo Jo Girl did the majority of her racing in Wagga with Tim Donnelly where a Saturday metropolitan victory at Randwick was the highlight of her six career wins.
Jojo Was A Man certainly looks one to watch.
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ON BREEDING, one to watch at the Australian Easter Yearling Sale will be a yearling out of Stacey Lee.
The Duyrea camp have decided to test the market with the latest offspring of Stacey Lee, with a yearling filly by Dundeel.
The filly, a half sister to News Girl and Front Page, will be sold on the account of Riversdale and is Stacey Lee's fourth foal. She also has an unraced three-year-old filly by Stryker, named Page Three.
The filly, Lot 99 at the sale, will go under the hammer on April 6 and is the first of Stacey Lee's progeny to be offered for public sale.
WHAT'S ON
GALLOPS
Thursday: Wagga (TAB)
Saturday: Tullibigeal (non-TAB)
TROTS
Thursday: Young (TAB)
Friday: Albury (TAB)
Tuesday: Wagga (TAB)
DOGS
Friday: Wagga (TAB)
