By Duane Ranger
Birnam trainer Wayne Graham has about 20 horses in work and on Saturday at Albion Park his two best pacers won races seven and nine respectively.
Peter McMullen steered Glenferrie Hood to victory in the $21,000 Kevin and Kay Seymour Open Pace, and then just over an hour later Jossie James and Adam Sanderson got the chocolates in the $13,000 Changeover At Burwood Stud Mares Pace.
“They are my best two by a long way. They both needed the trip to suit and both got exactly that. It was a couple of nice drives by Peter and Adam,” the ‘top 10’ Queensland trainer said.
Graham’s two wins saw his season tally lift to 26 wins from 186 starters this season. He has amassed $230,736 in stakes. Eight of those wins have come from 50 Albion Park starts.
Graham now sits ninth on the state’s training premiership and sixth at Albion Park. He said he would continue to race both pacers monitoring them through until the Winter Carnival.
“They are both nice horses without setting the world on fire. The others aren’t really up to city Saturday night racing just yet. Glenferrie Hood is almost all done though. He’s rising 10 now and had a few trainers before me, but he has always given his best," Graham said.
“Like Jossie James, this fella needs the run to suit. ‘Jossie’ is a sit and sprint type of horse. She has very good high speed and can get over the top of them if saved for a run."
Glenferrie Hood lobbed the one-one in last night’s 1660m mobile and then in the straight he proved way too powerful for Mach Alert and Bodhi Tree.
The Christian Cullen gelding paced the 1660m in 1:57.2 (mile rate: 1:53.6) with 27.8, 30.4, 27.2 and 28.6 sectionals. He won by 4.2 metres.
“Peter drove the horse well. He won from in front here last week and then tonight he sprinted home strongly. He will tell me when he’s had enough,” Graham said.
Jossie James was scintillating recording her 13th win form 40 starts – all of them with Graham. Sanderson sat near the rear with the 5-year-old Big Jim mare and then they pounced at the 400m.
The $1.95 favourite then left her opposition to it, winning by more than eight metres in 1:59.1 (mile rate: 1:55.4). Her sectional were 27.8, 29.6, 29.1, and 29.1.
“The race panned out nicely for her. She’s one of the fastest horses I have sat behind over a quarter. She has amazing speed. I think you saw that tonight,” Sanderson said post-race.
Graham said he broke Jossie James in after owner/breeder, Trevor O’Reilly bought her back from the APG Yearling Sales in 2015. She won four races last season and has won three so far this year. She’s always been a fast mare, but she as to be driven accordingly.
“She goes okay. She won the AG Consolation when she was two and Adam knows her well and gets on real good with her," Graham said.
“However, this could be her last season. She will most likely be put to a stallion at the end of the year, but that’s up to the owners."
Meanwhile, the “Team Teal’ campaign which is raising money for Women’s Cancer has now hit the $7,400 mark after Chantal Turpin and Kyle Rasmussen added another $200 each with their wins in races two and six last night.
Turpin trained and drove Imthe Golden Child to score in the second event, while Rasmussen won the sixth race with her quality pacer, Lilac Flash. It was their 12th and 16th wins, and they paid $26 and $3.60 respectively.
The campaign ends in early March.
Extensive results and race videos from last night’s meeting can be viewed here:
https://www.harness.org.au/racing/fields/race-fields/?mc=AP230219