Another successful night of racing was held at the Valley on Friday.
Marcus Oldham College – the night’s sponsors – hosted around 200 people in the Committee Room, where they heard from guest speakers in dual-Cox Plate winning jockey Greg Childs and Group 1 winning trainer and MOC graduate Henry Dwyer, while there was also an auction and other fundraisers for the industry leading college.
The Young Members cocktail party was a success, with many young racegoers enjoying the Spring weather, racing and the food and drinks on offer in the Pavilion.
Outside of the functions, Jimmy Cupples kept the entertainment coming in the Beer Garden.
On the track, it was the Bendigo trainers who had the most joy, with three winners on the night. Go Down, trained by Brendon Hearps, enjoyed a comfortable 2½-length win and jockey Brad Rawiller was very happy to be on board.
“I always love riding for the Bendigo blokes and Brendon has just been such a great mate for many years — he was like a dad to me as a kid,” Rawiller told Racing.com.
“It’s nice years later I’m riding winners for him in town.”
The other Bendigo trained winners were, In Fairness (Shane Fliedner) who led from start to finish in the 1200m Marcus Oldham Agriculture under the guidance of Fliedner’s nephew Harry Coffey, and Dubai King, whose trainer 27 year-old trainer Joshua Julius enjoyed his first win in the city.
Beau Mertens was on board Dubai King and was full of praise for Julius.
“He’s done really well with this horse,” Mertens said.
“He’s got a fair few wins out of him and to his credit he always gets it right when it comes to race day so (I’m) happy to ride a winner for him in town.”
The Antler Ride of the Night went to Damien Lane for his ride on the Mervyn McKenzie trained Big Reel in the Inglis 55 second challenge.