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JON O’Connor will shift his focus to the Melbourne Spring Carnival with talented mare Grey River after her brilliant return to racing in the Listed W H Wylie Handicap at Morphettville on Saturday.
Placed at Group 3 level during the Adelaide Racing Carnival, Grey River produced a perfectly timed run to charge away from rivals and score a dominant 2.7 length victory.
"She's been close in a few, to get the Stakes win makes her a valuable mare,'' Jon O'Connor said.
O'Connor was quick to credit Lachie Neindorf with a perfect ride, saving ground and defying a big drift in betting to record her third win from 11 starts and take prizemoney past the $200,000 barrier.
"Good jockeys do their homework,'' O'Connor said.
"I handed him the keys and said we all know where we expect to be, there is good speed in the race, we can sit just off and he read the play very well,'' he said.
O'Connor said there an abundance of options for the filly going forward.
"There is so many good races in Victoria coming up" O'Connor said.
"Four weeks away there is a race called the Northwood Plume for her at Caulfield, we might give her five days on the spring grass and tune her up for that,'' he said.
The Richard and Chantelle Jolly-trained Our Shining Star kick started a big day for last season's leading metropolitan rider Jake Toeroek who landed a riding treble.
Toeroek recorded a second win for the day aboard Angry Skies for the Ben, Will and JD Haynes stable, his treble coming when Braveman'Sgame was successful for in-form Murray Bridge horseman Michael Hickmott.
SA's leading trainer combination of Richard and Chantelle Jolly claimed another double when Montepulciano continued his rich vain of form in combination with Kayla Crowther. The pair having now combined for three wins and four seconds together in seven rides, the stable running the quinella with Does It flashing home into second place.
"He's just going great,'' Chantelle Jolly said.
"He's that sort of horse, he likes to take control, Kayla gets on well with him,'' she said.
Will Clarken and Niki O'Shea followed up from their Balaklava Cup success midweek with a training double, Royal Handed winning on debut for Ben Price before Victorian jockey Linda Meech got Sixteen Reasons back to winning form.
It could have been an even bigger day for the stable who also produced three second placings on the bumper 10-race card.
