Long road trip worthwhile

A 10-hour round trip proved worthwhile for Mildura-based horsewoman Naomi Kerr during the weekend.

Kerr made the extensive journey to Port Pirie on Saturday night, with her venture made even longer by the fact she had a runner in the first and last events on the card.

To Kerr’s delights, however, the timely expedition proved highly successful after she managed to bookend the meeting.

“It makes for a very long day,” Kerr said. “I left home at about 10:30 in the morning and left the track around 10:30 that night.

“I stayed in South Australia overnight though to break it up a bit.

“After the long drive home and settling the horses in and so on, I was pretty worn out, but it is worth it when you get a couple of winners.”

Merlins Ilusion kick-started proceedings when he outclassed his rivals over a mile.

With Wayne Hill in the cart, the son of Lazarus enjoyed the perfect one-one trip before dashing to a two-and-a-half metre win from Resurrects.

Mighty Carson was two metres away third in 2:01.1.

“I was very happy with him,” Kerr said. “He has won his last two starts now, but is still a work in progress.

“He is coming along nicely and can hopefully keep improving as he matures.”

Feng Shui Star then emulated his stablemate with Jason Kittel holding the reins.

Also gaining the one-one trip, the son of For A Reason covered the mile in 1:59.2 to remain unbeaten from four starts for Kerr.

Always Torque Tome and Celestial Daybreak filled the placings.

“He has been a great pick up,” Kerr said. “We certainly couldn’t ask more from him!”