Alice Springs apprentice Dakota Gillett makes successful return

[Wandering Eyes]

Back after serving a suspension, Alice Springs apprentice Dakota Gillett celebrated success at the Pioneer Park meeting on Sunday

Returning from suspension, Alice Springs apprentice Dakota Gillett was back to her winning ways at Pioneer Park on Sunday.

The 19-year-old celebrated her first Red Centre win since June when she piloted Beau Factor home over 1600m (BM64) for her father Terry Gillett, last season’s champion trainer in the Alice Springs and Provincial premiership.

Beau Factor, a seven-year-old gelding by The Factor, started at $3 with online bookmakers before outclassing his rivals in his first 1600m assignment in a career that now spans 32 appearances.

Controlling the tempo from the start in the five-horse field, Beau Factor sprinted clear in the home straight to seal victory by 3.6 lengths from Kerry Petrick’s Princess Pancakes ($5) with Gillett’s Altar Boy ($1.90 fav), who kept pace with its stablemate in second place before calling it a day at the 600m to finish a distant third.

For Beau Factor, fifth and second in his first two starts for the Gillett stable after arriving from NSW, that made it four straight wins since late August after saluting twice over 1200m and then 1400m.

After celebrating victory aboard her dad’s horse Little Ditty on Palmerston Sprint Day during the Darwin Cup Carnival in early August, Dakota then had two wins for Top End trainer Phil Cole on Katherine Cup Day.

Accompanying Cole to outback Queensland for the Simpson Desert Racing Carnival, the teenager had a win for local trainer Jay Morris when the Cole entourage stopped at Mount Isa.

It was when Gillett rode at Betoota on the last day of winter that she earned the wraith of stewards for excessive use of the whip prior to the 100m in two races – that’s despite winning one of those races for Cole aboard Awen.

Although permitted to ride at the Birdsville Cup meetings on September 6-7 where she had further success on Cole’s Turnstar, Gillett missed the Bedourie meeting due to suspension that was enforced until September 30.

Gillett, with 55 wins in the NT, SA, NSW and Queensland, rode at Darwin on Saturday where she had six rides for Cole before featuring in four of the five races at Alice Springs.

Perth-based jockey Kyra Yuill, a regular visitor to the NT in recent times, was back on deck at Pioneer Park after winning the $40,000 Moora Cup (1800m) – 170km north of Perth – aboard Justine Erkelens’ Roch Legacy ($2.35 fav) on Saturday.

And Yuill made it four wins from 24 Alice Springs starts when she piloted Paul Gardner’s Lamoree ($3.50 fav), who hadn’t been racing well, to victory over 1100m (BM54).

Kevin Lamprecht’s Travanti ($4.60), ridden by Aaron Sweeney, made it back to back wins, while Lisa Whittle’s Augusta Moon ($4.40), partnered by Paul Denton, and Greg Connor’s Flying Yishu ($5.50), who had apprentice Lek Maloney for company, were others to salute on Sunday.

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