Stablemates show winning form

Broadmeadow apprentice Clare Pettigrew took on a new stablemate this week when country apprentice Jessica Drury moved into her home.

Drury, who has ridden 80 winners in three years of riding for Craig Martin at Tamworth, opened a new chapter in her career by joining top Newcastle trainer Paul Perry at his Broadmeadow set-up on a three-month trial.

Drury may be a rival for Pettigrew, who rides for Kris Lees.

Pettigrew, who has ridden 40 winners, became friends with Drury when she made the long trips to country meetings throughout northern NSW.

"Jessica and I became real good friends and I even stayed at her place when I was riding at Tamworth," Pettigrew said.

"When she said she was coming to Newcastle I was only too happy to have her move into my place."

The move has proved a winner.

"It is great to have someone like Jessica at home, because all we seem to do is talk about racing and our up-and-coming rides," Pettigrew said.

"We watch replays of races together and already I can see that having Jessica in the same house is helping me focus on my career.

"Hopefully it will work out for both of us and really there is no problem at all that Jessica is riding for Paul and I work for Kris."

¦ Kris Lees has decided to send the unlucky Unser to Brisbane tomorrow for a class six race over 1200 metres.

He had Unser in at Randwick over 1400m but believed the northern race might be easier.

Unser lost a race on protest two starts ago in Sydney and was beaten a nose in his latest run.

Lees is yet to make up his mind where to run Deemed, which is entered at Randwick and Newcastle.

He is set to win his third straight Newcastle trainers' premiership with two meetings remaining at Broadmeadow this season.

Lees has scored 19 wins, six clear of Gai Waterhouse and seven ahead of Darren Smith.

¦ A local hero has been working behind the scenes for star stayer Ironstein, which is being set to add Thursday's Grafton Cup to his Caloundra Cup win last Saturday.

Ironstein is owned by a syndicate that includes several Newcastle businessmen, who called on Craig Roberts to help prepare the galloper.

Trainer Roberts, who runs Evergreen Farm, at Heatherbrae, near Raymond Terrace, was quick to answer the SOS he received to try to get the big-budget buy into form.

Ironstein, which cost $250,000 as a yearling, was going nowhere fast when syndicate manager Ian Burford and Newcastle Jockey Club director Murray McKeough asked Roberts for help.

He has had tremendous success with the early education of many horses for top Sydney trainers, including Gai Waterhouse, David Payne and Gerald Ryan.

"The horse was a bit of a bully and he was standing over his trackwork riders when he was in Melbourne," Roberts said.

"I decided to go back to basics with him and ripped off the blinkers, lugging bit and even the barrier blanket they had been using on him."

The re-education of Ironstein has paid dividends.

The horse had two straight Saturday wins in Sydney before the cup win in Queensland.

"I got the horse to relax and really want to work and things then just fell into place," Roberts said.

¦ Last week Stable Talk told of Ty Burford, who runs the Burwood Inn, at Merewether, and is the son of Ironstein part-owner Ian Burford.

Ty said he would shout the bar if Ironstein won the Caloundra Cup and the horse did the right thing by the thirsty hordes.

"We had 120 punters crammed into the bar and they cheered the joint down when Ironstein got to the lead in the Caloundra Cup," he said.

"The cheer only got bigger when I declared that the free beer was on after the win. We only have a small TAB in the hotel but we paid out over $8000 when Ironstein won.

"It truly was a great day for everyone and hopefully we can do it again at Grafton next week."

¦ Champion Cessnock jockey Robert Thompson was a keen observer when the pie-eating competition was held at the Jungle Juice Cup meeting on his home track on Tuesday.

Looking on from the jockeys' room as the boys started to munch away and the winner ate five pies, he shook his head and said: "It's not like the old days. I can remember way back to the year Gary Harley was in charge of the pie-eating competition.

"He gave the competitors a bit of a head start and then said, 'Get out of the way and I will show you what to do.' Big Gaz grabbed pies in his left hand and in his right hand and just shoved them down his throat."

Thompson described Harley's pie-eating style as something to behold but there was better to come.

"Jeremy Sylvester, who made the pies, also had a heap of real hot curry pies and he moved in and said to Gary, 'Have a go at these,' " he said.

"The steam was coming out of the curry pies but Gaz did not miss a beat and just wolfed them down. Even the competitors could only stand and cheer at his effort."

¦ Things are more demure at the Jungle Juice meetings these days but the punters are still interested.

TAB figures showed about $1.5 million was held on the meeting.

¦ Before his fall at Cessnock races on Tuesday, jockey Allan Robinson was in a terrific mood, having ridden the first winner on Jungle Juice Cup day.

Things became more interesting when he met the Australian lawn bowls team for the Commonwealth Games in India.

They were being given the royal tour of the course when a few of the women in the group saw Robinson standing near the jockeys' room.

They raced quicker than most of the horses charging down the straight to reach him. Robbo posed for pictures with the group and signed autographs.

"When you get to India tell them you know Robbo and you will be right, because I am big over there," the larrikin jockey said.

Robinson does not remember anything about the fall or the day, except the win in the first race.

He does not even remember an incident when he was placed in the ambulance after the fall.

Former champion jockey Malcolm Johnston raced to Robinson's aid and was with him when the stricken hoop was put in the vehicle.

"The ambo officer asked Robbo the usual questions like what day was it and he said he didn't know and the paramedic then asked him if he knew who I was," Johnston said.

"Robbo just looked me straight in the face and said, 'That is my grandfather.' "

¦ Newcastle jockey Andrew Gibbons expects succinct instructions when he is legged aboard Race The Shadow in the class one handicap over 1200m at Broadmeadow tomorrow.

One of the part owners of the promising galloper is Vickie Cassidy, the wife of Jim, one of Australia's greatest riders.

"I did a lot of work on the horse before he won for Jimmy last preparation and I am sure Pumper will be on the phone to let me know what to expect in a race from him," Gibbons said.

"Saturday's race is just a starting point for Race The Shadow this time but from riding him in his trackwork I can say he is very promising and will go a lot further than just racing at Newcastle of a Saturday."

Gibbons was interviewed on radio yesterday about a study that was published in a Sydney newspaper stating that jockeys were more likely to fall in their first ride of the day.

"I read the study and it is rubbish," he said. "I have had 5000 rides and fallen on four occasions and only one of them was in the first race, and it was not my fault.

"There could be more falls in the first race because that is when the two-year-olds, maidens and unraced horses are usually programmed to run."

¦ The race for the Max Lees Medal and the Bill Wade Medal has an unusual twist at Broadmeadow this season.

The Max Lees is awarded to the trainer with the best strike rate for the season at Broadmeadow and the same criteria applies for the Bill Wade in the jockeys' ranks.

Newcastle's Darren Smith leads the Max Lees medal count with a strike rate of 4.08 from 12 wins from 49 starts.

Jessica Whipp is in front for the Bill Wade Medal with the same figures.

¦ Newcastle trainer Jason Deamer was relieved after the victory of Now Now in the 900m benchmark 65 handicap at Cessnock on Tuesday - and with good reason.

Now Now was to race at Cessnock a month ago but was scratched behind the barrier.

"That was very disappointing but we got her home and the chiropractor looked her over and this time she got to start and went super," Deamer said.

"She really attacked the line and there could be another good race for her at Newcastle in a couple of weeks."

Deamer has done a sensational job with the five-year-old mare, which has won four races since joining his stable.