Newcastle trainer Steve Hodge is eyeing more success with his Hong Kong connection after breaking the three-and-a-half-year drought of Bourbon Flyer at home on Thursday. Login or signup to continue reading Bourbon Flyer ($21), a six-year-old Flying Artie gelding, came from last to win race two, a 900m class 1 handicap, by a length on a heavy surface with Scone-based three-kilogram claiming apprentice Cobi Vitler on board. It was Bourbon Flyer's third start for Hodge, who added him to his Newcastle stable during a sale of another horse to Hong Kong.
A $50,000 yearling, Bourbon Flyer won on debut for John Thompson in February 2021 on the Kensington track but had fallen short in 12 runs since. Eight of those were in Hong Kong. "A couple of his runs over there weren't too bad, without probably being up to them, so they decided to send him back," Hodge said.
"I sold a young one over there I had won a trial with at Newcastle. It went good and I was offered the right money for it, so we sold it. The agent who bought him had brought this horse back, so he asked if I wanted to have a go with him.
"His first-up run he was fifth and went good because he hadn't raced for 12 months. Then the over day over the 1200 he was very disappointing. "Today we had the claim because of the 60 kilos, and the kid rides all right.
He's a nice kid and that's the first time I've had anything to do with him. "He's ridden a few winners in the country but not many at the provincials yet, so hopefully he can get a kick along and pick up rides down here." While hoping to get more wins with Bourbon Flyer, Hodge is also looking for success of a different kind via the horse he sold to Hong Kong - Lika Ryder.
It now races under the name My Wish. "It was one we bred ourselves out a mare we had, Set The Tone," he said. "He was a three-year-old gelding and Mark Newnham has him over there.
He's had the two runs, he was fifth then was beaten a short half-head. He can hopefully win a race over there, because we've still got the mare. Hopefully she can breed another one and we can sell it again.
There's good money if you can sell them over there." Hodge operates the horse pool at Newcastle Racecourse while training a team of four or five. Trainer Rebecca Dunn and jockey Darryl McLellan were other local winner in the program, taking out the last with Inferencia ($14).
The five-year-old mare, a four-time winner bred and owned by Dunn, hit the lead halfway down the straight and hung on for a quarter-length win in the 1600m benchmark 64 handicap. "Bec is a lovely girl and does a great job with the horses," McLellan said. "We couldn't wait to get [Inferencia] to a mile, but she had parts where she was just missing runs and had to keep starting again.
First time I've ridden her at a mile and she's won, so it's good." Two-time group 1-winning driver Leigh Sutton believes Little Frenchie and Noisy Crusader can add to his successful week at Newcastle Paceway on Friday night. The former Victorian, who has been back living in Maitland since last November, took Sensationalize to victory in the $50,000 Gold Crown Sale Graduate Final for Hunter trainer Darrell Standen and the Goozdolphin Racing team on Wednesday night.
"The whole team put in a lot of money with these young horses so they need to get these returns, and it was actually just good to win a nice race here," Sutton said. "In Victoria I was going quite well and driving metro-grade horses all the time. Here, I haven't chased them and have been driving just at Newcastle.
" It took Sutton to 888 career wins and he heads to Newcastle for four drives. He said Clayton Harmey-trained Noisy Crusader (race eight) and Cameron Davies' Little Frenchie (nine) looked his best hopes. "Noisy Crusader is a really nice horse going in the right direction," he said.
"Clayton has him doing everything right now and he's got quite a nice future. I think the one in the last for Cameron is my best drive. It's got a nice trailing draw, its last two runs have been really good and it's in a weaker race.
" "The Mighty Mondo can always win but he's gone back to drawing bad, so he'll probably need luck." Sutton and partner Maddie Bond brought their family back to Maitland and he has since focused on work outside of harness racing. "There wasn't really any plans to drive again.
I got a full-time job then obviously started driving for Goozdolphin and Clayton," he said. "I started to get a few opportunities and started to look like I can actually drive again." GREYHOUNDS: Abermain trainer James York is considering another crack at Wentworth Park and a shot at next month's Black Top at The Gardens if Jack Jack Binks can keep up his flying form.
The giveaway dog has finished top two in his past six runs, all over 515m, since overcoming a virus. He races over the trip in the ninth at The Gardens on Friday from box six. He has broken five seconds for his first section at his past six runs and York expected a similar effort.
"It doesn't really matter with him where he starts from. He just comes out and goes," York said. "He just tries hard.
He's a beautiful little dog. I'm going to take him back to Wentworth Park and give him another go there and I'll look at the Black Top heats. If he's still holding form, we'll put him in.
" Jack Jack Binks has had six wins and 19 placings from 33 starts after coming to York as an injured, unraced pup. Craig Kerry is a sports reporter for the Newcastle Herald. Craig Kerry is a sports reporter for the Newcastle Herald.
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