Mare runs “cracka” ahead of Invercargill Cup day meeting

[Wandering Eyes]

By Jonny Turner 

Patience paid off when Seacracka ran to an easy fresh-up victory at Oamaru yesterday.

The four-year-old made her first outing since October last year a winning one when speeding home in slick closing sectionals to win for trainer Jonny Cox and driver Carter Dalgety.

Seacracka competed in good company for the late Katie Cox before she was sent for an extended spell and then joined Jonny Cox’s barn. 

Judging by her trials leading into her victory, and her Oamaru performance, she’s returned bigger and better for it. 

“The owners told me Katie had always had a good opinion of her and I had spoken to Katie myself and she had said the same thing,” Jonny Cox said.

“Katie had done a great job with her, then she had a decent break, being quite a big girl time was going to be her friend.”

“She had been in work for quite a while building into today and she seems to have come up nice.”

While clearly talented, Seacracka shows plenty of quirks at home.

“She is a funny horse, she tends to walk the fence a lot at home whether she is by herself or with a mate,” Cox said. 

“We don’t tend to work her as hard as we normally would.”

“Without having a race, I thought she might be better to sit in behind them.”

“But they went slow and Carter is a smart driver and he got around them.”

Seacracka followed in the footsteps of Hooroo, who has also won for Jonny Cox after previously being trained by Katie Cox.

Canterbury based owners Bo Houston and Ryan Cockburn race Hooroo and are also in the ownership of Seacracka.

With her Oamaru win and a conditioning run under her belt, Seacracka will now be aimed at Group 1 Ascot Park Invercargill Cup Day, where she has the Sires Stakes Southern Solstice in her sights.

Cox’s stable star Pinseeker is also on track for his shot at next week’s Group 1 Ascot Park Invercargill Cup.

The pacer went to the line hard held, without racing room, in last week’s recent Group 1 The Christian Cullen at Addington.

“It would have been nice to have a crack at them, but it is good to know he can be there with those better horses in a race like that,” Cox said. 

“He has come through the race well and he will be off to Invercargill next week.”

Seacracka was among three winning drives for Carter Dalgety at Oamaru.

The reinsman also scored with Ebury Street and Jay R Tolkien.

The treble gave Dalgety a boost in the New Zealand junior drivers’ premiership.

Heading into today’s racing at Winton, where he has five drives, Dalgety is on 55 wins for 2024.

Sam Thornley leads the race on 60 wins with Wilson House in second on 56 wins.

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