The Kalgoorlie carnival is all done for another year leaving some racegoers very dusty in the wake of home-town wins in the LR Kalgoorlie Cup (2300m) and LR Hannans Hcp (1400m).
Fourth-generation local Luke Fernie won the Kal Cup with Be Optimistic (Blackfriars) and local boy made good David Reed claimed his second Hannans with Magnificent Andy (Magnus). The Goldfields honours its own and races at the Boulder Cup and Kalgoorlie Cup meetings were named after Tom Sayers and his son Ron.
The Tom Sayers Memorial Sprint (1300m) was won by Turbo Power (Vital Equine) who was saluting for the first time since last season. The veteran sprinter is prepared by hobby trainer Trevor Tasker for a syndicate managed by Renee Gulberti.
He was originally trained by Neville Parnham and has now banked over $380,000. “I couldn’t believe the price ($31) because he was only beaten a half-length last time after going hammer-and-tong in front,” Tasker said. “I told ‘Kesh’ (Dhuran) to let them go and have the last ping.
“I’m a Boulder boy so to win a race on Boulder Cup Day is very special,”
Photo / Trevor Tasker receives the Tom Sayers Trophy
Dhuran also partnered Ain’t No Other Man to an all-the-way victory in the Ron Sayers Memorial Sprint (1100m) last Saturday. He has earned over $390,000 for owner-breeder Wally Daly and trainers Sean & Jake Casey.
Ron purchased Ain’t No Other Man’s sire Gingerbread Man (Shamardal) to stand at Yarradale Stud a decade ago and he’s in career-best form this season with 16 wins headed by Phanta’s Listed victory in the Belmont Newmarket (1200m) in August.
Sayers, who died in May 2022, was introduced to racing by Tom and as a small boy dreamed of winning his home-town Cup. He fulfilled that goal with former Queenslander Forehand in 1995 and added another with Yarradale-bred stayer Priceless Matt in 2005.
Photo / Ron Sayers Memorial Presentation
Ain’t No Other Man is related to Yarradale homebred Born Priceless who was the first of four Karrakatta Plate winners bred and/or raced by Ron when she claimed the 2001 renewal of Perth’s premier juvenile race.
“I’m pretty emotional,” Sean Casey admitted at the presentation. “Ron was such a good friend of mine.”
That response was reminiscent of a speech Ron gave at the 2018 Diggers & Dealers Forum after receiving the Geoff Stokes Memorial Award. He recalled starting out as a 14 year-old apprentice at the Great Boulder Mine before setting out on a career building Ausdrill into a billion-dollar, multi-national business.
“You have no idea what this award means to me,” he told guests at the Goldfields Arts Centre. “Thank God I was born in Kalgoorlie.”
