I received an email from a Queanbeyan trainer (who shall remain nameless) which said in past "you seen the melbourne results yesterday you can train a good horse on the Queanbeyan track."
The email set me to thinking. If world champion sprinter Takeover Target was the only Gr 1 winner to ever come out of Queanbeyan - you could say "every dog has his day" - but of course he wasn't.
The first Gr 1 winner to be trained on the hilly and tight circuit was outstanding sprinter Wayne's Bid, trained by Frank Cleary, which won an AJC Galaxy.
Of course, Frank went on to repeat the dose when Catbird won the Golden Slipper for him - after having gone within a half length of winning the Slipper a few years earlier when Clan O'Sullivan was run down close home by Burst.
But back to the email which renminded me of yesterday's race results - and, for me (being a bushie through and through) the highlight of my day - when Karuta Queen severely beat up her rivals in winning the Gr 3 race for three years olds.
Yesterday's win elevated her in to the "corker" class. What a bonny little filly she is?
When she booted on the turn yesterday and put three on her rivals I was off the lounge, on my feet and rode harder than Tommy (Berry) for the last 200.
The win signalled that Karuta Queen had really arrived as a serious racehorse - and Neville "Nifty" Layt - the filly's trainer, and his wife Barbara, deserve the ride they are now on with this filly.
All the punduts wanted to knock her yesterday. There was a strong train of thought among the "professionals" (whoever they are) that Karuta Queen would not run a strong 1200 metres in good company - despite her having won a Magic Millions over that course earlier this year - and the knock was "big."