By David Nagel
Pakenham’s two-gun trainers – Peter Moody and Phillip Stokes – were pushed to the back stalls late last week with another local stealing the spotlight with two winners in less than 48 hours.
Local preparer Colin Scott kicked off his winning run on his home track at Pakenham on Thursday night when his four-year-old gelding Twiggy Pop scored a tough win in the $35,000 Bruce Clough Memorial BenchMark-64 Handicap (1200m).
Twiggy Pop was given a gun ride by jockey Damien Thornton, camping off a hot speed before peeling off the rail and heading four-wide at the 400-metre mark.
The son of Star Witness/Miss Twiggy gave a solid kick in the straight, hitting the lead at the 200 before holding off the fast finish of the John Sadler-trained Cheerful Legend.
Twiggy Pop has been a model of consistency in recent times, winning three of his last nine starts since breaking his maiden status at Warracknabeal in mid-July last year.
Scott didn’t have to wait long to put a second bottle of champagne on ice after Denim Wars came out on top in a thrilling finish to the $25,000 BenchMark-58 Handicap (1400m) at Echuca on Saturday.
Denim Wars broke his maiden status at Pakenham in early February this year and was having his first run since finishing fourth at Ballarat on 27 March.
Scott gave the four-year-old son of War Chant/Calico Blue a jump out at Pakenham on 4 May, where the gelding finished fifth of six runners.
But Scott had Denim Wars cherry-ripe for Saturday’s assignment, with Daniel Stackhouse settling him back in the field before heading to the outside running rail as the field turned for home.
It was a winning move from Stackhouse, who hit the lead in the preferred ground out wide before holding off the fast-finishing Ninyo on his outside.
Denim Wars held on by a nose, taking his record to two wins from 11 starts.
Scott was the face of Pakenham racing almost a decade ago, when his star gelding Speediness took all before him on his way to being placed at Group-1 level.
Star trainers Moody and Stokes may have had the spotlight taken last week, but both still headed to the winner’s enclosure at Cranbourne on Friday night.
Moody kicked off the card in impressive fashion when his promising three-year-old filly Madrean scored a soft win in a Maiden Plate over 1400 metres.
Ridden by champion jockey Jamie Kah, the daughter of Frankel/Sky Island sat quietly off the pace before hitting the front at the 300-metre mark and setting sail for home.
Madrean had plenty in hand, winning by a length on the line from the Mick Kent-trained Girello.
Madrean’s win came from just her second race start after finishing second at Mornington on debut.
And the Stokes’ trained Girasol gave nothing else a chance in the third race of the evening, scoring a dominant two-and-a-half-length victory in the $35,000 Maiden Plate (1000m).
The three-year-old filly – Nicconi/Trinket Lady – treated her rivals with contempt…winning for the first time at start three.
The Jim Conlan-trained Seydoux finished second, with veteran Pakenham trainer Tom Scanlon back in third place with his three-year-old gelding, Our Best Pal.
The son of Palentino/Dowager girl was having first run for the Scanlon stable after transferring across from fellow Pakenham trainer Shane Stockdale.
