By Col Hodges

Jockey Wendy Peel has won the last 2 Louth Cups on Austin and Valadyium however the wins have been 4 years apart.

No, the Louth Cup is not an Olympic Games event, the reason for the 4 year gap being the planned annual Louth meetings were abandoned in 2020, 2021 and 2022 due to either the Covid pandemic or wet weather.

Rodney Robb from Nyngan was the trainer of the 2019 winner Austin while Valadyium won the 2023 Cup for Dubbo trainer Connie Greig.

The much anticipated return to racing at the iconic Outback meeting attracted a probable record crowd of around 5,000 on Saturday and it was a thrilling finish to the 2,000 metres Nutrien Walsh Hughes-Don Lelievre Memorial Louth Cup.

Beg Me led around the hometurn from Costas and Valadyium and it then became great battle down the straight between those three gallopers.

Finishing slightly the better, Valadyium (Wendy Peel, $3.60 favourite) won by 3/4 length from Beg Me (Ken Dunbar, $4.40) with a short half head to Costas (Jake Barrett, $4.40).

Wendy Peel then gave the Connie Greig trained Merdeka (($2.20 fav.) a nice run before winning the 1700 metres Shindys Inn Benchmark 45 Handicao from the leader Planet Ex (Ken Dunbar, $5) and Equilibrium (Paul Zerafa, $6).

First leg of a treble for Connie Greig was Linden Tree ridden by Orange based apprentice Will Stanley in the 1200 metres Arrowfield Stud Benchmark 50 Handicap.

Sons Of Bourke (Jake Barrett, $2 fav.) looked the likely winner when dashing to the lead in the straight but was overhauled and beaten a short neck by Linden Tree (Will Stanley, $3.50) with over two lengths to the third placed Lenny’s Lad (Chelsea Ings, $13).

Will Stanley had a memorable day as he landed a winning treble, Bush Warrior, Tonatrix and Linden Tree.

Bush Warrior was beautifully presented in the mounting yard by Wellington trainer Daniel Stanley and raced up to the good looks in the 1000 metres MacDonald & Co. Wool Brokers Class 1 Handicap.

Parked behind the leaders, Bush Warrior (Will Stanley, $4.20) sprinted to a one length win over Blueskin (Jake Barrett, $2.20 fav.) and Pressita (Wendy Peel. $2.30).

First up for Narromine trainer Terry Fulwood after 23 starts in Maiden company, Tonatrix gave most of the 17 bookmakers a losing result when winning the 1400 metres Rice’s Back O’Bourke Splashe Cola Maiden Handicap.

The well supported Tonatrix (Will Stanley, $6) tracked the leaders then took control to score by over two lengths from Vivalicious (Chelsea Ings, $2.60) and Ready For Lift Off (Ken Dunbar, $2.70 fav.)

Dubbo jockey Ken Dunbar earned praise for an excellent ride on the Bryan Dixon Jnr. , Gilgandra trained Heza Wise Guy in the opening event, the 1000 metres Port Of Bourke Hotel Maiden Plate.

Turning for home, Dunbar took a rails run inside the leaders and Heza Wise Guy ($3.00) eventually won by a short neck from Hammoon Sunshine (Wendy Peel, $14) with Chart Topper, Jake Barrett, $2.80 fav.) almost three lengths away third.

Ken Dunbar competed a double with another good ride when he positioned the Wayne Collison, Narromine trained Money Not My God ($3.50) behind the leader Chloebella Rose before going on to win the 1400 metres Sullivans Mining & Industrial- Steel And Hire Class 2 Handicap from Sindagar (Jake Barrett, $2.60 fav.) and Sun Master (Wendy Peel, $15).

Cobar Picnics are on Saturday with the Narromine Gold Cup on Sunday.