False start and big weight don’t stop Harden Cup heroics

California August claimed the time-honoured Harden Picnic Cup in somewhat strange circumstances on Saturday.

With the big crowd and Harden District Picnic Race Club committee on tenterhooks as stewards and jockeys inspected the crossing near the 800m mark, the meeting was at risk of falling over until some sand was removed and racing was given the green light.

Racing then went ahead with no issues until later on in the program, with the Natalie

Jarvis-trained seven-year-old defying his considerable weight (74kg) and a false start to win the $10,000 event for Maddy Wright.

Jarvis was thrilled to land the win, and the Moruya trainer praised Wright for a good ride on the Fastnet Rock gelding, which started the $ 4.80-second favourite in the 1400m event before winning by a head from the Rex Cole-trained Wonder Brahma (Emily Waters, $13), while three-quarters of a length away in third was the Todd smart-trained Fire and Gemstone (Leandro Ribeiro, $8).

“I was concerned about the weight he had to carry, and he did a great job to win, and Maddy did an excellent job,” Jarvis said.

“She did well to pull him up after the false start, which was an achievement, and I think he is racing well with the weight; he is a big, strong horse, and he seems to be handling it okay.”

Jarvis and her Thorotek team typically race at TAB meetings, but with Wright back in action, the stable has been happy to run horses at Young and Harden in recent weeks, and they will set their sights on next month’s meeting at Bong Bong.

“We really just started picnic racing because Maddy is back riding,” Jarvis said.

“We were actually going to sell him (California August) a few months ago, but she wanted us to keep him and race him at the picnics.

“It’s actually a really fun day out when we go racing with Maddy at the picnics. It’s not as serious, and usually, the horses we race are ones we own a large percentage of, and it’s more like a fun day out.”

After his tough win at Harden, preceded by a good second in the Burrangong Picnic Cup at Young earlier this month, California August is on top of the NSW Picnic Champion Series with 14 points. Jarvis said she would set him up for Bong Bong, and other picnic races in early 2024, but confirmed that they wouldn’t be travelling long distances in a bid to earn points.

 “We would race him around here and at a handful of tracks like Bong Bong and Crookwell, but we won’t travel him any farther than that,” Jarvis said.

Wright, riding at just her second meeting back after having a child, has kicked off where she left off, bringing up a double on the Harden program. Riding for Jarvis, she won aboard Real Salty ($2.30) in the 1100m Class B Handicap.

In the feature sprint, the 1100m Open Trophy, Victorian Steady Jam (Shaun Cooper, $2.30) was too good, winning for the Don Dwyer yard. Another Victorian pair won later on the program, with the Dan McCarthy- trained Basso Caruso (Catherine Masters, $3.40) winning the 1400m Class B Handicap.

Emily Waters was also in the winner’s circle, guiding the Rex Cole-trained Chipstar ($2.40) to a good win in the 1300m Maiden Plate. Champion picnic hoop Leandro Ribeiro also found a winner, helping the Darryl Rolfe-trained Wicklow Way ($2) to a decisive win in the 1000m Maiden Plate.

A good crowd got out to support Harden District Picnic Race Club on Saturday, with pristine weather greeting patrons. There were plenty of entries in the fashions on the field, while the racing was of a good quality.