Alchin’s stranglehold on Golden Guitar final

MENANGLE trainer Jarrod Alchin decided on a three-pronged attack in a bid to win his first $40,000 Multiquip Golden Guitar Final.

Alchin can now enjoy his week at Tamworth after qualifying all three for Friday’s night’s feature final, thanks to some superb reinsmanship from young driver Cameron Hart.

Alchin headed into the Tamworth heats on Sunday night with two runners raced by former Armidale locals in Scott Whitton and Jodie Foster, who race under the name of Tumby Park.

His third runner is raced by his wife Stephanie.

“This year is our best chance yet in the final – three serious chances,” said Alchin.

“All my runners made it through to the final so that was a good start.

“Every year Scott [Whitton] tells me he would love to win the Golden Guitar – it would be like winning a Group 1 race for him.”

Tumby Park races Aqua Sancta and Delightful Dude with Just A Little Bit heading up the winning trifecta for the stables.

Placing is a run from the 600-metre mark Aqua Sancta scored a 7.8m win in taking out the Multiquip Poultry Golden Guitar Heat 2, driven by Hart, beating Tamworth pacer Overthemoon (Tom Ison) with Gottashopearly (Josh Gallagher) 10.5m away third in a mile rate of 1.57.5

Making his first visit to the Tamworth carnival, Hart produced three superb drives for his hat-trick.

“The horse did a good job and it’s not easy coming from behind but lucky enough there was a bit of pace on in the race,” said Hart.

“I landed a good spot early in the race and was confident from there and the horse came home with a strong finish.

“I always like driving for Jarrod as he has some nice horses and it would be a good start to the season to win a feature race like the Golden Guitar final first-up.”

Delightful Dude then stepped out in the Multiquip Engineering Golden Guitar Heat 3, also under the hands of Hart, for a win in a mile rate of 1.58.5 over 1980m.

“The race worked out well for us,” said Hart.

“They put the brakes on pretty quickly up front and I was able to whip around them and control the race.”

Hart’s bold move paid dividends with Delightful Dude scoring a 2.8m win over Hunter Valley pacer Johnson Step (Grace Panella) from the Clayton Harmey stables with Sydney pacer Bella Clare, trained by Michael Xuereb and driven by his son Nathan.

“He is a strong horse and has done a good job for us so far,” said Hart of Delightful Dude.

The third win for the Alchin and Hart partnership was welcomed when Just A Little Bit won the Multiquip Aggregates Golden Guitar Heat 4 for Alchin’s wife Stephanie.

“The horse went as well as the other two horses,” said Alchin.

“He had to do a lot of work in the first lap and he just found a way to win.

“That was his first race start in a month and we are happy with that win.”

Just A Little Bit scored by 2.5m from Boyzhavtime (Robbie Morris) with Dunrobbin 2.9m away third in a mile rate of 1.58.2.

Alchin is staying in Tamworth for the week and training out of the Leslie Jeffries stables.

“I have been coming up here for five years and always stay at Leslie’s stables,” he said.’

“It has been terrific; she can’t do enough for us.”

And if this is the year that Alchin can train the Golden Guitar Final winner, it will be another race ticked off his “bucket list”.

“It is a prestigious race to win” said Alchin.

With five heats contested Hunter Valley trainer and reinsman Michael Formosa won the remaining two heats with Ultimate Force and Military Man with first and second going into the Final.

• JULIE MAUGHAN