Sport
4 September, 2026
In-form hoop grabs Narromine double
Liam Blanch kicked home a winning double, including the Narromine Cup, on Saturday, August 23.
Raced at Narromine, Sunday, August 23
The very much in-form jockey Liam Blanch kicked home a winning double on Sunday including the Michael Mulholland trained Shadow Dane in the 1600 metres Three Rivers Machinery-Narromine Cup.
Mulholland had Shadow Dane primed to peak on cup day and the seven-year-old gelding after settling in last position began making steady headway under a well-judged ride by Blanch to be ready to challenge when heads turned for home.
Powering to the line, Shadow Dane ($6 to $5.50) won by nearly three lengths from Unreal Expectation (Mikayla Weir, $3.70) and Prince Of Sorts (Shannen Llewellyn, $4.40). In the previous race, the 1300 metres Shore Goggles Benchmark 58 Handicap, Liam Blanch brought the Janelle Galea trained Honey Slider ($5.50 to $4 favourite) from last to beat the tenacious leader Yiasou (Jake Pracey-Holmes, $8) and Moon Zone (Zoe Hunter, $8.50).
Owned by friends and family of Janelle Galea, Palentino Swinger (Heavelon Van Der Hoven, $7) completed a double for the Dubbo trainer when finishing fast down the outside from the tail of the field win the 1300 metres Western Plains Veterinary Service BM 58 Handicap from Demarcate (Gabrielle Johnston, $3.70) and Deodee (Amy McLucas, $11).
Sellick’s Beach, a stablemate of the Michael Mulholland trained Cup winner Shadow Dane, made it two wins and a placing from three starts with an eye catching performance in the 1200 metres QUBE Agri Class One Handicap.
Owned by Kell Turner from Dubbo, Sellick’s Beach (Izzy Neale, $4) came from last to beat Panelli (Clayton Gallagher, $3.40 favourite) and Tiye (Zoe Hunter, $12).
Michael Lynch, a long-time successful trainer at Cowra, has his team going extra well and following the win by Arwa Miss at Bathurst last week he landed a winning double at Narromine with Badgers Bridge and Bolo Miss.
Ridden by Ken Dunbar, Badgers Bridge ($7) led throughout to win the opening race the 800 metres Maiden Handicap from the strong finishing Mazort (Jake Pracey-Holmes, $3.80) and Mind Battlefield (Jess Del Frari, $17). Bolo Miss (Amy McLucas, 4.40) after reaching the lead from midfield then held off the Kathryn Cahill, Cowra trained Violet And Blue, $10) by a half-length with Blue De Beers (Kody Nestor, $3.20 favourite) a close third in the 800 metres Douglas Egan Memorial Benchmark 66 Handicap.
Born in Argentina and later a jockey in New Zealand where he rode four successive winners at an Oamaru meeting when an apprentice, Diego Montes de Oca, a recent addition to the riders ranks in Dubbo, won the 1600 metres JR Richards and Sons Class One and Maiden Plate on the Troy McCarney, Dubbo-trained Dusty Vermeer.
Starting a $26 outsider, Dusty Vermeer raced in a handy position and then reached the lead for a half-length win from Snow Dog (Jake Pracey-Holmes, $8) and Aphelion (Donovan Dillon, $71).
The other winners were the Jane Clement, Mendooran trained Mega Pixel (Gabrielle Johnston, $3.60) and Easy Trapezee (Shannan Llewellyn, $11) trained at Wyong by Allan Kehoe.
Cup day attracted a very good crowd and during the meeting life membership was presented to Norm Lewis a former long-serving secretary of Narromine Turf Club.