IT WAS a special day for the Sinclair family and stable at Moree Racecourse on Saturday.
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While the Moree Race Club was celebrating its Christmas meeting, the Sinclair stable was also celebrating a day where the George Sinclair Memorial loomed large.
While Peter or Nathan Sinclair didn’t have a runner in a memorial race named in honour of their grandfather and great grandfather, the father and son training duo did have other runners and finished with a double, winning the final two races on the program with Lady Cinnamon and Mind You.
Peter and Nathan weren’t there to celebrate however.
Instead they were in Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital where Peter had donated one of his kidneys to his son, who has suffered from cystic fibrosis since birth.
That operation was a success too, Peter Sinclair told The Leader this week, while ringing to thank all the well wishers who had contacted his family to pass on their kind thoughts.
“We’re really happy with the way it all went,” Sinclair said.
“Nathan will be here for about another six weeks.
“I’ll hang around for a couple of weeks.”
He said the double at Moree was a brilliant addition.
“I’ve got to thank John Brown, Rob Mather and Tony McCosker up home,” he said.
“They did all the work.
“Dad (Phil) rolled back up on the Friday and then took all the glory on Saturday,” he joked.
“They all did a great job for us – I’m real happy for them.
“It was a good little double as well.
“Lady Cinnamon is raced by a syndicate from Gosford.
“I wanted to retire her but they wanted to give her one more run so they could have a Christmas party.”
Peter Sinclair always organises a tent for the Christmas meeting so he can invite all his stable supporters and workers, friends and owners to celebrate a race day where the George Sinclair Memorial is a highlight.
This year’s George Sinclair Memorial was won by Ron Buckpitt’s Summa Cum Sadie.
It was her second win at Moree and gave Muswellbrook Samantha Clenton another winner in her comeback season.
Gunnedah trainer Gavin Groth won the first two races of the day as well while Walcha’s George Woodward won with Cheeky Express, who was ridden by Matthew Powell.
Scone apprentice Vad Bolozhinskyi rode Lady Cinnamon for Peter Sinclair while Darren Jones was aboard Mind You.
“He was unlucky at Armidale,” Peter Sinclair said of Mind You.
“He’s been going good.
“There is a race for him at Toowoomba coming up on New Year’s Eve.
“It’s for horses who have had to have had five runs at non-TAB meetings and can’t have won a race worth more than $10,000.
“Mind You fits the bill for all that.”