Junee product Cam Hart drove the Roy Roots Jnr-trained Betterthanfederer to victory in the $25,5000 NR up to 58 Waratah Series Final at Menangle on Saturday night.
The six-year-old initially qualified after winning the Newcastle heat on June 23, and driven by Hart, Betterthanfederer started $1.85 favourite in the final and recorded 1:54.8 for the 1609m trip.
Hart drove a double on the program, making it a running double when bringing up a good victory on the Bernie Hewitt-trained Kick The Switch ($6) in the $30,600 NSW Bred 2YO final over 1609m.
Hart had an easy enough time when winning by 2.5m on the talented Lazarus gelding.
Hart’s city double followed on from a good win at Penrith on Thursday night, where he drove the David Waite-trained The Best Of You ($1.60) to victory in the 1720m NR up to 47 pace.
Roots goes close in Group 1 Tattersall’s Tiara
Local connections of star galloper Roots have gone within half-a-length of Group 1 glory at Eagle Farm on June 24.
Trained by Chris Waller, the four-year-old Press Statement mare finished strongly for jockey and Young product Tim Clark but was beaten by the Chris Munce-trained Palaisipan (Kyle Wilson-Taylor, $14) in the $700,000 Queensland feature for fillies and mares.
Heath Newton and connections still picked up $126,000 for their efforts, with Roots having started 18 times for six wins and five minor placings while earning connections over $630,000 in prize money.
According to her Racing NSW profile, Roots is now spelling.
Wagga meeting abandoned
Wagga’s Murrumbidgee Turf Club was meant to host a pop-up meeting on Saturday.
Still, 5mm of rain forced stewards to abandon the meeting that morning, deeming parts of the racecourse ‘unsuitable’ to conduct a race meeting.
Wagga race again on Monday, July 24, with a 1400m Open Handicap to headline the eight-race card.
Double delight for Alan Clare
Nangus greyhound trainer Alan Clare landed another winning double at Wagga on Friday night.
With five dish lickers racing, Clare won the 320m Maiden with Total Faith ($2.80).
The Fernando Bale dog, an April 2021 whelping, was having his fourth start and went 18.35 for the journey.
Later on in the program, Clare’s runners finished one-two in the 320m fifth grade, with Bear Instincts ($4.40) running 18.24 when beating kennel mate Hazard Alert ($5) by two lengths.
Clare went half-a-length from landing a treble, with Shot Of Faith ($1.90) only just going down in the final event on the card, the 320m fifth-grade sprint.