Clarke, Todd continue to dominate in Darwin

[Wandering Eyes]

Jarrod Todd, Darwin’s premier jockey, celebrates one of his three wins at Fannie Bay on Saturday aboard the Gary Clarke-trained Change Is Coming. Picture: Caroline Camilleri (Fotofinish Racepix)

There’s no stopping trainer Gary Clarke and jockey Jarrod Todd as they combined for a winning treble at Darwin on Saturday.

The pair celebrated success with Shakattak ($2.70), Change Is Coming ($3.10 fav) and Extreme Emotion ($3.40 fav).

First up, Extreme Emotion settled second behind runaway leader Ariarne ($4.20) over 1300m before bridging the gap and hitting the front at the 100m to seal victory by 1.7 lengths.

For the daughter of Extreme Choice, it was her first win since April.

Shakattak won in similar fashion over 1200m when he held down second place at the 700m with Lisa Whittle’s Expert Witness ($15) three lengths clear.

The son of Shalaa caught Expert Witness at the 200m, but in the end he only had half a length to spare as Jason Manning’s Bon’s Pride ($5) and Clarke’s Seguso ($5.50) powered home.

The victory handed Shakattak a third straight triumph, dating back to the $40,000 Dabble Cup (1300m) during the Darwin Cup Carnival in July.

Change Is Coming made amends after being rolled as a short-priced favourite on Darwin Cup Day when controlling proceedings over 1100m, winning by 2.8 lengths.

Despite chewing up petrol early in the peace, the son of Capitalist was too good, with Angela Forster’s Zoumist ($5) and Cole’s Tricky Mikki ($18) filling the minor placings.

It’s early days in the 2024/25 Top End and Country premiership, but who would bet against Clarke and Todd from topping the charts for a 13th and sixth straight year?

Clarke (9 wins) leads Phil Cole (5) and Neil Dyer (5) after six meetings, while Todd (7) leads Stan Tsaikos (4) and Adam Nicholls (4).

Dyer had success on Saturday with Yaki Ishi ($2.40 fav), while Tom Logan’s Scudetto ($4) provided respite for the bookies.

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