Wauchope Jockey Club at Port Macquarie – Sunday 15 June 2025
A classic and patient ride from Grant Buckley resulted in a dominant victory by A Pound of Salt in the $40,000 Wauchope Cup at Port Macquarie on Sunday.
The large crowd was left in awe as the Todd Howlett trained gelding powered down the crown of the track to land the club’s feature from Russian Roni with Annulus working home well to land the minor prize in front of Point Counterpoint.
Auzstar and Imperial Hilton challenged for early supremacy before Russian Roni drove along the rails with the heavily supported runner gaining the lead before Inferencia burst through the pack to work into second place.
Buckley was content to watch the action from near the tail of the field aboard A Pound of Salt before making his move and weaving a passage approaching the final bend.
With Inferencia feeling the pinch after a challenging run in transit and Russian Roni kicking back along the rails, Buckley hooked A Pound of Salt into the clear down the home running and the son of Furnaces raced away to claim the cup.
Success was a wonderful triumph for the popular hoop after an enclosure incident at Wyong last year resulted in a fractured pelvis and an enforced layoff of around eight months before returning to the saddle in February.
The victory was extremely satisfying for prominent Muswellbrook trainer, Todd Howlett, in taking his gelding from Highway company in town to Wauchope Cup success and took career stake earnings for the gelding to around $175,000.
A tactical ride from Winona Costin was the catalyst for Heir Apparent’s success in the Wauchope Sprint when the son of Cable Bay landed the major prize after working to the lead and running rivals ragged.
Costin was determined to find the front from an outside barrier in the club’s major sprint and established a clear lead over The Wolf and Crowies Shout before racing into overdrive and bounding away to score a dominant win over The Face with Buck Pharoah landing third in front of Debussy.
The trophy was a wonderful thrill for John Sprague and highlighted the highs and lows of the sport after the prominent local mentor bade farewell to Wannawinwin following an incident at Grafton last Monday.
The day started perfectly for Shae Wilkes when the popular apprentice claimed the first three races on the program aboard Crazy Mikki, Star Prediction and Smart Lily.
The first two were for Tony Ball and this will provide some form of reward for the popular Taree mentor after his stable was deluged by floodwaters in the past month while linking with Wayne Wilkes to score on Smart Lily provided Shae with great personal satisfaction.
Neil Godbolt has unearthed a rising star after What a Rush literally ran her more senior rivals ragged to score in the Villified at Bainsbridge Farm Handicap after Anna Roper allowed the lightly raced youngster to strike the front and stride clear to score a comprehensive victory by around five lengths.
Via Vegas was expertly ridden by Ben Looker to claim the fourth event on the program for local trainer, Jonathan Smith, while the heavy support came for Aged Care later in the day and punters weren’t disappointed when the strength and Aaron Bullock resulted in a tough win for the Kris Lees trained gelding.
The Wauchope Jockey Club was delighted to continue a wonderful association with the Wauchope RSL Club for their flagship race and pay special tribute to the support provided by M & S Print, Chris Hudson Electrical, Coffee on High, HLW Projects, Vilified at Bainsbridge Farm and Port City Glass, Wauchope Dragon Flys and the Wauchope Blues in staging their feature meeting of the season.
The massive program was conducted under fine skies, and a large crowd was in attendance to support the great racing action with the Wauchope Jockey Club acknowledging the cooperation and assistance from the Port Macquarie Race Club together with showcase status provided by Racing NSW.
