After racing on the dirt tracks throughout central and western Queensland for the past month, Darwin trainer Phil Cole has finally returned home.
And what a successful trip it proved to be with Cole having 42 starters in 30 races for 10 wins, five seconds and 10 thirds, while the stable also finished fourth on six occasions.
Cole, along with wife Rhonda and daughter Charlie, travelled far and wide following Katherine Cup Day on August 13, appearing at Betoota (August 27), Birdsville (September 3-4), Bedourie (September 10), Winton (September 17) and Longreach on Saturday.
Despite missing out on a win at Betoota and Longreach, Cole had five wins at Birdsville, three wins at Bedourie and two wins at Winton.
Circumstances prevented Cole from racing at Mount Isa on August 20, and although the conditions at Betoota weren't too bad, the Top End trainer had to deal with wet and muddy conditions at Birdsville and Bedourie following heavy rain.
The rain at Birdsville was so bad that Friday's meeting was switched to Sunday, while Saturday's meeting was delayed following repairs to the track.
Fine conditions prevailed at Winton and Longreach, while Cole's team of horses had to adjust to running clockwise at Betoota, Winton and Longreach after running anti-clockwise – which applies in the Northern Territory – at Birdsville and Bedourie.
Saccharo, who won the Birdsville and Bedourie Cups over 1600m, finished fourth in the Longreach Cup (1600m) behind the Kristie Clark-Peoples–trained Centaur (Tim Brummell) from Rockhampton.
Cole's No.1 rider, Wayne Davis – who rode Saccharo in the Cup – also partnered Kronos in the feature sprint over 1100m at Longreach but was unable to repeat his victory in the feature sprint over 1200m at Birdsville, coming sixth behind the David Rewald-trained No Refund (Robert Faehr) from Blackall.
Stroke Of Magic performed admirably in her respective race over 1200m, finishing strongly for a close fifth after trailing the field for most of the race, while others to represent the stable on Saturday were Andaman (5th), Crazy Lad (9th), Maxaway (10th) and Do Your Best (11th).
Davis had a full book of rides on the eight-race program at Longreach after flying to Queensland from Darwin and linking up with the Cole family just prior to the meeting at Winton.
He also partnered Andaman, Maxaway and Crazy Lad on Saturday, while Miles-based jockey Sarah Robbins – a former Alice Springs trainer – partnered Stroke Of Magic and Do Your Best.
Davis also finished second on Short Takes for Augathella trainer Raymond Frazer, seventh on The Landing for Blackall trainer Charlie Prow and eighth on Bi Turbo for Ilfracombe trainer Henry Forster.
Faith And Love (who won two races from four starts), Ghetto (who was placed four times in four starts), Kick It Baby and It's Pins helped complete the Cole team that competed in Queensland.
“The results at Longreach weren't what we were after, but I don't think any of the horses really disappointed us,” Cole said on Wednesday after making the 2250km trip from Longreach back to Darwin.
“The Longreach Jockey Club really looked after us with the facilities that were provided – it would be great to go back another time.
“I think all the horses handled the track really well and raced quite well on the surface.
“It looked a bit dusty with the wind, but there wasn't much of a kick back.
“There is no doubt that Stroke Of Magic raced really well – she hit the line really strongly.
“She got a long way off – probably not the right distance for her, but when you travel away you've got to run them in the races that are around.
“I thought that Crazy Lad – he was going for three straight wins – he just got caught off the track the whole race and never really got the opportunity to get in and that was probably his undoing at the finish.
“He never really had an easy run in transit.
“And of the others, I just think it was a big effort by Saccharo in the Cup.
“He travelled a long way before doing the circuit and then to go to Longreach with a lot of weight (64kg) probably took its toll.”
Cole – who finished second in the Top End trainers' premiership in the NT behind Gary Clarke (55) with 30.5 wins, and who also trained 12 winners in Alice Springs during the 2021/22 season – deemed the Queensland trip a success and is definitely planning to go back next year.
The only negative aspect for Cole were the occasions when there were small fields, although the rain at Birdsville and Bedourie didn't help.
“Just hope that there's a few more horses out there that will just make it a lot better racing,” he said.
“We got home yesterday afternoon.
“Straight back into it and hard at work this morning – I was at work at 3.30am.
“We've got a really nice team of horses stepping out in Darwin on Saturday.”
Although he has had horses racing at the last three meetings in the Top End during his absence, it will be Cole's first appearance back at Fannie Bay since Darwin Cup Day on August 1.
Of his 11 starters on the six-event card, four-year-old gelding Plymouth Rock, formerly trained by Chris Waller in Sydney, will be having his first start in the NT.
In his one and only start for Waller, the son of Pierro finished fifth in a 1200m maiden as a two-year-old at Warwick Farm in December 2020.
“Plymouth Rock, we bought him before the Darwin Cup Carnival and he hurt himself in transit on the way up,” Cole said.
“It's just taken a bit of time to get him to the races – we trialed him here on September 6 over 900m and he won that quite nicely.
“But he is still a little bit immature and just probably lacks that racing experience, but he's stepping out on Saturday and he'll be very competitive I believe.
“He's been showing us plenty in track work.
“He just needs to probably turn up race day and be professional.”
Plymouth Rock (Wayne Davis) will line up in Race 2 along with stablemate Laylah's Wish (Cecily Eaton), while Cole's other runners include Exgames (Davis) in Race 1, Cielo D'Oro (Davis) and Military Zone (Eaton) in Race 3, Afternoon Tea (Davis) and Nokondi (Eaton) in Race 4, Charretera (Davis) and Tsugaru (Eaton) in Race 5, and Mystery Flyer (Davis) and Sabaku (Eaton) in Race 6.
Ciello D'Oro, who raced under various stable partnerships involving the Hayes family and Tom Dabernig in Victoria, had four wins and four minor placings from 21 starts before arriving in the Darwin.
His last race in Victoria was at Moonee Valley on New Year's Eve, where he finished third over 1200m (BM64) in a field that featured colts, geldings and entires aged three years and above.
The six-year-old gelding won on debut at Fannie Bay on August 27 over 1000m (BM76) before a last-start fourth behind Mister Monaro over 1200m (BM76) on September 10 in the most recent meeting at Darwin.
To prepare for the upcoming wet season, the Fannie Bay track surface underwent prepares.
“I feel Cielo D'Oro has been going quite well,” Cole said.
“He won impressively first up this campaign and then ran a nice fourth last start.
“It's probably a nice even field for him on the weekend, so he'd probably be one of my better chances.”
Cole may have left Darwin with 11 horses, but he arrived home with just five as the trip to Queensland was also a business exercise.
Those that returned to the Top End included geldings Saccharo, Kronos, Crazy Lad and Andaman, as well as the mare It's Pins.
Kick It Baby and Ghetto ended up with Miles-based trainer Luke Miller, while other mares – such as Stroke Of Magic – ended up with Mount Isa trainer Justin Bawden, Do Your Best has ended up with the police department in Mount Isa, and Faith And Love was retired to Willow Park Stud near Scone in NSW.
Maxaway, a gelding, was transferred to the stable of Longreach trainer Cherie Vick, while Andaman has since ended up with the police department in Darwin.