A rushed visit to Swan Hill just came up short for Warrnambool trainer Daniel Bowman on Sunday.
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Bowman, who has battled the flu over the past week, headed to Swan Hill with his handy mare Wish I Might to run in the last race of the three-day carnival.
Wish I Might lost no admirers, running second to Sachem in the $50,000 contest.
"It's been a big day," the group one winning trainer said. "I left home at 9.45am on Sunday morning with Wish I Might and will not be back home until after 10pm. The trip to Swan Hill takes more than four hours. Normally, my wife Denita and the kids and I go up and stay for the weekend, but we've had the flu at home, so I decided to go up by myself on Sunday and come straight back. It's a shame Wish I Might never won but I was happy with her effort. We have to space Wish I Might's runs to get the best out of her. She just can't cope with lots of racing."
Bowman had some joy on Sunday, however, as Magnetic Prince, ridden by apprentice hoop Laura Lafferty, won a restricted race at Casterton.
"We got the desired result with Magnetic Prince but it was not how we had planned to get it," he said. "We thought we might lead, but when Magnetic Prince missed the start, Laura had to revert to plan B and, to Laura's credit, she did a great job. Laura rides a bit of work for the stable; it was only fitting she had the winning ride on Magnetic Prince. He's been a very slow maturing horse. We've just given him time to mature but he's still a campaign away from being near his best. I think with a bit of time, he'll run out a strong 1600 metres."
Magnetic Prince has won two of his nine starts.
Meanwhile, Begood Toya Mother, Bowman's group one winner, has gone to the spelling paddock for three weeks after failing in town at his last start.
"Begood Toya Mother just seems to struggle on the heavy tracks," he said. "We'll give him a short break for three weeks before bringing him in for races a bit later in the season."
Bowman's spring aspirants Bubble Palace and Fortunate Kiss will come back into work next week.
"We gave Bubble Palace and Fortunate Kiss little breaks, with races over the spring carnival in mind for both horses," he said. "Bubble Palace hasn't done a thing wrong, winning two races. Her two wins have been impressive. We'll be lifting the bar with her over the spring and we'll just see how far we can go. Fortunate Kiss has shown plenty of ability and we've got our fingers crossed she may win a nice race over the spring."
Begood Toya Mother won the 2019 Rupert Clarke Stakes to give Bowman his first group one victory.
WIN ON DEBUT
Crossley-trained youngster Wannabe Famous lived up to his track gallops for veteran trainer Quinton Scott, with a win at his debut in a two-year-old race at Swan Hill on Saturday.
Wannabe Famous, a $10,000 purchase as a yearling, had trialled well at Terang and Mortlake before Saturday's victory, with Jake Noonan aboard, over Hellchat and Dream Statement in the 975-metre maiden race.
"I was quietly confident Wannabe Famous would run well going on his trackwork," Scott said. "Wannabe Famous had impressed me with good jump-outs at Terang and Mortlake. He's a lightly-framed horse who is going to be better with a spring under his belt. I'm sure there's more improvement in him. We'll take him home and give him a couple of days off before working out what we'll do with him going forward. I don't like making decisions about future runs on race day. It was a good ride by Jake. I'm sure his experience helped Wannabe Famous win the race."
Scott said it was great to get a winner at Swan Hill's popular three-day carnival.
"I started going up to the Swan Hill carnival nearly 40 years ago when I was at Benalla," he said. "I've missed having runners at a few of those carnivals. It's always great to get a winner but it's extra special to win a race at the Swan Hill carnival."
SIDELINED
Jockey Robbie Downey will be on the sidelines for eight meetings after pleading guilty to a whip indiscretion at Swan Hill on Saturday. Stewards found Downey used his whip five times more than permitted prior to the 100-metre mark.
SALE SUCCESS
The Great Southern Sale, which concluded last Friday, was an outstanding success.
The Australian Weanling Sale and Great Southern Weanling Sale grossed a combined $25,082,500, a remarkable 25 per cent year-on-year jump.
VICTORY
Popular Warrnambool hobby trainer John Howard broke a run of outs at Casterton on Sunday. Howard, who has not been in the winners' circle since 2006, won a maiden plate over 1400 metres with Pretty Boy.
"I'm pretty pleased to get another winner," he said.
"Pretty Boy is my first winner since 2006 but in that time I gave the training caper away for seven years. I'm like so many other people who have been involved in racing; it's just hard to get racing out of your blood once it's been there."
Stewards questioned Howard about the improved performance of Pretty Boy after the galloper ran last at Ballarat in his last start.
"Pretty Boy's fitness levels had improved following the Ballarat run," he said.
"Pretty Boy has been a slow maturer who has a lot of quirks."
WHO TO FOLLOW
WARY: punters should be careful when accessing the form from Sandown on Saturday. The meeting was run on a very heavy track and many runners never handled the going. The winter months can be successful for punters if they follow the one rule regarding wet tracks - back horses that have won on them.
MANKAYAN: proven wet-tracker who was well backed to win on Saturday and the import never let his supporters down. Punters can back him with confidence on heavy tracks before he runs in stronger company over the spring.
MOSCOW RED: more wins are in store for the Henry Dwyer trained galloper over the winter months following his impressive victory at Sandown.
JARROD FRY: underrated jockey. Fry showed his skills at the three-day Swan Hill carnival winning races, including the Swan Hill Cup on Paul's Regret.
TOREGENE: took her record to two wins from three starts with an easy win on Saturday. She looks to have a bright future.
CAMPBELL RAWILLER: apprentice jockey who is making every post a winner in South Australia. Punters should follow the lead and include his mounts in their multiple selections.