3 minute read
Jeff Englebrecht , one of the Hunter Valley’s best known and most successful trainers, will bid farewell to the district with the possibility of a winning double at Scone on Friday.
Photo by Racing and Sports
Englebrecht, who has trained at Muswellbrook for more than 30 years, is moving his stable to Wyong on Sunday after almost two years of planning.
He has three runners at Scone including the ultra consistent Power Shot, top weight in the Kia Ora Stud Benchmark 60 (2200m, and the promising Equiano in the Cressfield Benchmark 55 (1600m).
“I’m a country boy at heart and the Hunter Valley will always be home but after 30 years I need a change,” Engelbrecht said.
“There will be more options for my horses and clients by being closer to the major provincial tracks as well as Sydney.
“However I will be venturing back up to Hunter Valley tracks when there is a race that suits.”
Englebrecht is best known through the deeds of his veteran iron horse Newton’s Rings, a horse no one wanted.
He won 22 races from 1200m to 1600m including the Pacesetter Stakes and Myer Sprint at Gosford and the 2008 Scone Cup.
Newton’s Rings also ran second to Eremein in the 2006 Chelmsford Stakes at Randwick and a week later finished third in the Shannon Stakes at Rosehill.
Englebrecht's other stars have included Pecan Player, winner of the Wyong and Taree Cups as well as two city races.
Power Shot has emerged as a promising galloper since Englebrecht and apprentice Hannah Martin adopted new riding tactics that has resulted in three successive wins at Cessnock, Dubbo and Gilgandra.
"She is one paced and can’t produce a sprint so Hannah is riding her up on the pace and it has worked,” Englebrecht said.
Englebrecht also has hopes that Equiano will develop into a middle distance galloper and will look to step her up in distance if she wins or runs a big race.
“I like her, she is a mare with a future,” Englebrecht said.
“I think we will see the best of her at 2000 metres or further, perhaps next preparation, and that is another one of the reasons for the move.
“They run many more of those middle distance races at Wyong and Gosford.”
Equiano has won two of her last four starts at Gunnedah and Tamworth.
