CRICKLEWOOD has taken out the 167th Wallabadah Cup in a dominant performance on Tuesday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Craig Martin trained gelding proved too strong finishing more than six-and-a-half lengths ahead of Mr Malu in second and more than seven lengths in front of Meishou in third.
For the Tamworth based Martin, Tuesday’s victory was a memorable one.
“He [Cricklewood] ended up doing it pretty easy in the end,” Martin said.
“It’s always nice to have a winner and to pick one up at Wallabadah is quite the nice achievement.”
Read Also:
Ridden by apprentice jockey Sophia Thatcher, the seven-year-old lead throughout the race after getting to the front out of the gates.
“I thought Sophia did a pretty good job to win in big style,” Martin said.
“Especially given that she has only really been back riding since Boxing Day it is a good effort.
“She had a ride in every race and really took notice of what do at each point.
“I think in the Cup she knew he can be a bit tardy sometimes and he just needed a good kick along to get there.
“She did that, realised she was on a good horse and the rest is history.”
Martin said the Wallabadah track “held up well” despite the recent hot weather.
“It was a pretty hard track to be honest,” he said.
“I think that’s understandable given how hot it has been recently and talking to a few of the locals that recent hot weather did hold it back a bit.
“However, there was still plenty of grass cover and I think it held up well for a one-meeting-a-year track.”
Leading into the New Year’s Day Martin had high hopes of an Inverell and Wallabadah Cup double.
However, those dreams were dashed when he opted to scratch Inverell Cup hope Present Sense.
“In the end I was 100 per cent sure about the Inverell track,” Martin said.
“So I decided to act on the side of caution and chose to pull him out.
“It’s one of those things and now we will have a look at where he’ll go next.
“As for Cricklewood, I think he has some scope to go up in distance to 2000 metres.
“So we will hopefully give him a run in Gunnedah in a few weeks and see how he goes.”