With the NRRA Country Championship qualifier returning to Grafton on Thursday there will a huge 10 race card with lots of Grafton trainers represented however you could be forgiven for thinking it was Grafton day at Ballina on Monday with four of the seven races going to Grafton prepared horses.
Andy Parramore was first to celebrate when MULTIPLIED scored a last to first victory in the Maiden 1300m.
Ridden by almost stable rider Jodi Worley MULTIPLIED was clearly last away from her outside gate but Worley quickly made a beeline for the fence and never went around another runner for the remainder of the event saving plenty of ground to dash to the front below the 200m and race right away when the judge called a halt.
The Greg Howells stable has been in great form of late and yesterday franked that form when Howells made the trip to Ballina with two recent winners.
REAL GENT had stole the show at Grafton with a Vo Rogue style performance at his most recent start and again ridden by Kyle Wilson-Taylor everyone expected the bold front running grey to lead.
Wilson-Taylor however employed a different tactic and controlled the tempo to a nicety increasing the tempo ever so slightly around the ever turning Ballina circuit this proved a winning move because REAL GENT was in for the fight and found plenty when challenged in the home straight to score by the smallest possible margin.
Old timer TEO TORRIATE made it two wins from her last four starts when she led throughout to score in the F&M BM 58 1250m .
Ridden by Nozi Tomizawa the mare jumped two in front and was never under any real pressure from that point of the race.
Once Aussie Nozi pushed the go button on the point of the home turn TEO TORRIATE dumped her rivals and raced away to win with plenty in reserve.
The win provided a training double for Howells who has won four races from his last eight starters since January 1 ….understandably at this stage he hopes 2020 continues forever.
The final event of the day saw Dwayne Schmidt saddle up SAVANNA JEUNE in the Class 1 1000m.
Schmidt was keen on her chances pre race but had a very slight concern she would get through the Heavy track.
In the end there was no need to worry with SAVANNA JEUNE being ridden with some urgency to lead before Luke Rolls dropped anchor to control proceedings mid race and then dash away once heads were turned for home to be pretty much race over by the 300m
It was the second win for the mare since this season who has become very consistent since being restricted to the sprinting trips.