Local apprentice jockey Rose Hammond stole the show on an action-packed Echuca Cup Day.
Riding at her home meeting for the first time, Hammond collected a winning double for Echuca trainer Gwenda Johnstone aboard Pravro and Lika Swift.
“Unbelievable,” Hammond said after guiding Pravro to victory in the Perricoota Station Sprint.
Hammond’s exploits came after lighting threatened to spoil the fun as 2500 people converged on the Echuca Racing Club for the 2023 cup.
Lindsay Park’s dream autumn continued when Here To Shock took out the $100,000 Moama Bowling Club Echuca Cup.
It was the second win in as many years for jockey Blaike McDougall after success aboard Not To Be Mist 12 months earlier.
The heavy rain and storms meant there was a delayed start, with racing finally getting under way at 2.05pm, over an hour after the scheduled start time.
Thanks to the efforts of all racing participants, the meeting was wrapped up by 5.45pm, less than half an hour after scheduled.
Echuca Racing Club chief executive Garry Armstrong was complimentary of the attendees who stuck it out through the poor weather early and helped the day run successfully despite the early challenges.
“Testament to the people, they’ve all hung around, which is really good like when it was sort of, you know, raining consistently there around about 11.30am, 12 noon, you couldn’t have blamed people for going home,” Mr Armstrong said.
“So, thank you to them for staying, we’ve got a really strong crowd, which is great, so it’s been a pretty smooth day.”
The early storm wreaked havoc at the track, and Mr Armstrong said the tension was high among the meeting organisers.
“One hundred per cent, like the rain, but also the lightning, you know, that’s probably one of the things that really delays race meetings, and obviously, if they delay for too long, you run out of time in the day to get through,” said Mr Armstrong, who also enjoyed success as an owner in race two with Lika Swift.
“Everyone held their nerve and the lightning cleared, and the rain, so we’re going good now.”
Despite the track being downgraded to a Heavy 8 following the wet weather, it played well throughout the meeting.
Hammond was not the only apprentice to shine, with Hannah Edgley successful in the VOBIS Gold Eldorado aboard Kooled and Tom Prebble winning the last aboard Bold Hoi Ho.