Skellatar Park trainer, Mack Griffith, is riding a wave of success with three winners last weekend, making it four in six days.
And all winners were at four different venues.
“That makes it eight wins from my last 14 starters,” Griffith said earlier this week.
Griffith’s winning streak started Tuesday last week when three-year-old filly Demagogue won at the RSL Christmas Cup meeting at Muswellbrook.
Traveling west to Mudgee on Friday, Griffith took out the Open Handicap (1200m) with the $3.000 favourite Sutton Friend, ridden by Greg Ryan.
On Saturday, Next Adventure represented the stable at Armidale and duly saluted the judge in the Benchmark 70 Handicap (1100m) from the Stephen Gleeson trained Top Crown, also from Muswellbrook.
Next Adventure, the $2.30 favourite, was having his third run back from a long spell, and it was the gelding’s 10th win from 48 starts for his syndicate of owners.
“We tried something different with him this preparation. No boxes, I train him straight out of the paddock and it appears to be working,” the trainer said.
“He’s walking around the paddock all day and it keeps his legs limbered up. He won his first race as a two-year-old and is still winning at seven,” Griffith said of the son of Catbird.
Next Adventure was capably ridden by former Muswellbrook apprentice jockey, Tim McIntosh, who began his career with Pat Farrell and is now with Tamworth trainer, Mark Mason.
It was the third leg of a winning treble for McIntosh.
Trainer Griffith made it three winners for the weekend when Renaka, the $3.20 favourite ridden by Hugh Bowman, won the Fillies and Mares Plate (1350m) at Wyong on Sunday.
The win made amends for the mare’s two second placings at her previous starts.
Griffith bought the five-year-old mare by Redoute’s Choice for $20,000 at the broodmare sales. Renaka is raced by a syndicate of four.
Muswellbrook Race Club will commence another busy year of racing with its “New Year’s Gift” TAB meeting at Skellatar Park on Monday, January 4.