Sport
17 July, 2024
Treble for Parry as apprentice jockey shows off her skills
The locals took honours at the Mount Isa TAB program on Monday.
Locals took the honours over the visitors at Mount Isa on Monday as trainers and jockeys came from far and wide to compete in the seven-race TAB program.
Julia Creek trainer Tanya Parry had three winners, while Mount Isa’s Jay Morris and Melissa Bieri also tasted success.
Barcaldine’s Billy Johnson was the only non-North West trainer to get a winner, although he did go home with a double.
One of the biggest talking points was the win by apprentice jockey Chloe Lowe, who lost her irons in the home straight aboard Jakazone, but remained composed enough in the saddle to still win aboard the Parry-trained runner.
A little sheepish following the race, Lowe wasn’t all that keen on the picture (above right) being put in the paper when North West Weekly gave her a sneak peek in the mounting yard.
“Please don’t run that! It’s embarrassing,” she said.
But the young rider should take it as a compliment of her skills as a rider.
Those same skills were on display in the first race of the day when her mount knuckled at the start and almost put Lowe into the Buchanan Park surface.
However, she remained calm and held her nerve in a race that was claimed by the Morris-trained newcomer Benevento, who was an impressive winner when first up in the region.
Hoopert gave the favourite a perfect steer and then made it a double when he piloted Onchao to victory in the second race, a Class 6 Plate over 1200m.
Previously trained by Emerald’s Glenda Bell, Onchao was a $10 shot in a small field, but proved too slick for his North West rivals.
The feature race of the day, an Open Handicap dash over 1000m, ended in controversy.
Han Dynasty crossed the line in first place for Johnson and apprentice jockey Zac Sprie, but they had to overcome a protest from the runner-up, the John Manzelmann-trained Eyewitness, who flashed home for second.
Jockey McKenzie Apel claimed that she had been obstructed by the winner at the 500m mark, and while stewards took a long time to make a decision, they eventually dismissed the protest.
Perhaps the most impressive win of the day came in the last when Terry Hill rode Just Stop It to a third victory in four starts since arriving in Parry’s stable.
A bargain buy, the five-year-old gelding had just two starts down south before arriving in Julia Creek, but appears to be a star on the rise.
He won a Class 3 Plate on Saturday but should soon find himself based in open company.
Racing in the North West turns to Hughenden this Saturday.