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Jeff Englebrecht, the former Hunter Valley trainer now based at Wyong, will target next month’s Taree Cup with his in-form gelding Bonus Spin.
Bonus Spin’s win at Wyong on July 18 gave Englebrecht his first winner at the central coast track since he moved his stable from Muswellbrook six weeks ago.
Englebrecht is an old hand at winning races at Wyong and even won a Wyong Cup while based at Muswellbrook but he counted the win by Bonus Spin as a special achievement.
“I have had five or six winners on country tracks since we moved to Wyong but this is the first winner on my new home track,” Englebrecht said.
Bonus Spin has now won four races and Robert Thompson has been aboard each time.
“Bonus Spin is a really tough horse. I might back him up at Gosford next Thursday then get him ready for the Taree Cup,” Englebrecht said.
“He loves soft tracks, the wetter the better, and it is always soft at Taree at the end of winter.
“The Taree Cup will be a lot harder than any other race he has run in but he will get in on the minimum weight and he scored a runaway win there earlier this month.”
Thompson had Bonus Spin in front before turning for home and was never going to be run down in the straight.
“The horse is best left to just lob along early and get into his rhythm but he certainly has a good sprint at the finish,” Thompson said.
“He is a very tough horse and I can see no problem backing him up at Gosford.
“Jeff will do the right thing by the horse, he knows him inside out.”
* ANOTHER “rookie” Wyong trainer making big inroads is Allan Kehoe, who added another win to his record when the rising eight-year-old Centabeel added another win for the young trainer.
The win by Centabeel was his third since being switched to Kehoe and continued the trainer’s amazing start to his career.
In 22 months Kehoe has progressed from running a stable where pre-training was the backbone to training full time with 17 horses in work.
Kehoe trains from a property on the outskirts of Wyong but uses the racecourse for al his trackwork.
“I am a very hands on trainer and ride all my own work which is a big help in knowing how a horse is progressing,” Kehoe said.
“Having the property means the horses can go into the paddock for three or four days after a run to recover.
“Centabeel might be rising eight but he is as sound as a bell.
“Recently I changed things around with him and now give him a lot of swimming and this win proves it was the right move.”
• THE riding honours at the Wyong meeting went to Nash Rawiller as he booted home a winning treble and came agonisingly close to four when beaten a nose in another race.
Rawiller has decided to target the provincial circuit, including Wyong, on a regular basis and certainly left his mark on the meeting with wins on the Paul Perry trained The Explorer, Force One for Marc Conners and the heavily backed Roulette Prince for Scott Aspery.
Aspery produced the stayer Roulette Prince to win first-up over 1200m after a lengthy spell.
Roulette Prince is raced by Glenn and Viive Williams, the couple who raced brilliant filly Karuta Queen and it was Aspery’s first winner for them.
“We have five or six horses with Scott and he is doing a great job with them,” Glenn Williams said.
“He is a young trainer on the way up.”
Queensland-owned The Explorer started a short priced favourite on the strength of two seconds at Newcastle.
“He is still green and has a lot to learn but he has potential,” Rawiller said.
Force One had connections worried when he missed the start but Rawiller’s skill and understanding made the difference at the finish.
Rawiller told connections that Force One has turned his head into an adjacent stall as the field jumped.
