by Garry Allison, The Horses Rocky Mountain Turf Club
Talk about a dead heat! Three of the Rocky Mountain Turf Club’s finest riders, Scott Sterr, Angelle Wilson, and Janine Stianson, came out of the RMTC Spring Meet tied for wins, with 33 apiece.
Scott’s total earned purse money was $151,479, which included 24 second place finishes and 10 thirds – seems he was either in the top two or out of the picture.
Angelle lead the way with $158,882 in purse money and placed 21 times, finishing third on 22 occasions. Both she and Scott had a 23 per cent win percentage.
Meanwhile, Janine was third 28 times and second 23 to bring in $157,005 in purse money. She finished in the money 56 per cent of the time, to lead the field.
At Millarville, July 1, another RMTC event, Angelle Wilson won three of the eight races.
Closing fast as the Spring Meet came down the stretch was Hugh Cade Huston with 26 victories, 26 seconds and 25 thirds.
Brooke Mellish was the third female in the top five riders, with 18 wins, 20 seconds and 24 thirds.
The people who prepare the horses for the jockeys to ride, the trainers, weren’t quite as bunched at top, but were pretty close from there on down. Tom Rycroft led the way with 13 wins, 12 seconds and 13 thirds for a 60 per cent average in the money in 63 starts.
The only other trainer in double win figures was Ross Brigden with 10 victories. He also had seven seconds and 13 thirds for a 58 per cent average in 52 starts.
Show money for the trainers will have to be split four ways with Stan Marks, Stan Webb,
William Leech and Allen Fogle all with nine victories during May-June racing at the RMTC.
Pete Dubois and Ken Williams were next in line with seven wins apiece and rounding out the top 10 were Robert Gwilliam and Ron David with six wins each.
Anyone who saw them run will not be surprised to learn that their were four undefeated horses – with three or more starts – during the meet.
Its All About Speed and Ransome Road both went to the gate four times and chalked up four victories. Lafleur and Panzano were in the starting gate three rimes and crossed the finish line first in all three races.
Its All About Speed was the leading money winner with $30,356 while Ransome Road, running in lower-paying races, earned $9,779. Lafleur, a classy veteran, earned $19,928.
Slewthedude and Blue Banjo both started five times, won three, and were second twice. Goodbye Earl won three of his four starts while Feudal Lady, Miss Combo and Good to Fly all heard the starter’s bell four times and all finished first twice, second once and ran for show money once.
Rounding out the top 10 jockeys was Laurie Ferguson in sixth hole with 13 victories and another lady, Laurina Bugeaud in seventh with eight victories, meaning five of the top seven rides at the RMTC in the spring were female.
Eighth was newcomer Joey Turcotte with six victories while David Brown and Antonio Ramirez with tied for ninth with four win each.
With most of the horses in Grande Prairie for the summer, things are quiet on the RMTC racetrack until September 1-3 when the Fall Meet gets underway, running until the October 26-28 weekend.
