Mark Cummins and his mare, Living Fire.
Local horse trainer Mark Cummins has made the Tullibigeal Picnic Cup his own after claiming first place in the race for the second consecutive year. The Tullibigeal Picnic Races hosted their annual meeting on Saturday March 25th with a 6 race card. Sergeant Bilko is proving age is no barrier with the 8 year old gelding saluting the judges over the 1600 metre race. ‘Bilko’ was ridden by Simone Vella who was over the moon to win the cup for Mark.
With a field of 8 horses Sergeant Bilko came out of Barrier 5 to bring home $4,140 in prize money for the Cummins Racing Team. Mark said “A few months prior to Tullibigeal we spaced Sergeant Bilko’s runs to have another crack at the Tullibigeal Cup. It is a bit sentimental for us, to get the win for our old mate Lyle Jones who we lost a few weeks after Sergeant Bilko’s last cup win at Tullibigeal in 2016.” Sergeant Bilko seems to love the 1400 to 1600 metre distance and has showed some red hot form at recent Picnic Cup events. He has placed 2nd in 3 of his last 5 starts before getting over the line first last Saturday. Mark had Living Fire place 5th in the 975m Sprint at Tullibigeal after winning the week before at Crookwell in the SWL Chartered Accountants/Combines Agwork Trophy Handicap.
