A smart ride from Mikayla Weir helped The Regular Show deliver veteran Muswellbrook horseman Jim Gleeson his first winner as a trainer since Boxing Day 2019 on Monday at Scone.
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The breakthrough win was part of a double for Weir on the seven-race card transferred from Gunnedah.
The Regular Show, a five-year-old No Nay Never gelding, was settled just behind the leader in the 1000m maiden before Weir took a rails run at the top of the straight.
Second-up from a six-month spell, The Regular Show was strong to the line on the heavy track to hold off favourite Sussu by three-quarters of a length.
It was The Regular Show's 12th start and second for Gleeson, who took over the training from his son, Stephen, who is also based at Muswellbrook.
Jim has had only a handful of runners in his name in recent years and was pleased to get a winner for his family.
"He promised a bit but he's had a few problems," Jim said of The Regular Show.
"He's just a family horse. The boys own him. Steve gets all the good ones but I've kept this one. I'm travelling with him now and he's not happy. I'm lucky to get a lift home I think," he joked.
"He had a virus the last start he had for Steve and he just went backwards. Steve had to repair him, and then I took him over, but I broke him in for them originally so I think I deserve it.
"I haven't had many horses since about 2000. I had a fair few winners before that. My father [Roger] used to do it but gave it away when he won the Newcastle Cup in '72 [with Glimpse O'Gold] and I took it over from there."
Weir made it a race-to-race double with a front-running ride on favourite Early Hours for Tamworth trainer Troy O'Neile in the 1600m maiden plate.
Another Tamworth trainer, Sue Grills, also landed back-to-back wins at the meeting.
Anubis and Maly Malt led all the way for Grills.
Comeback jockey Kody Nestor took Anubis to a three-length win in the 1000m class 3 before apprentice Anna Roper drove Maly Malt to a narrow victory over Quatre Zip in the 1400m class 1. Maly Malt also survived a protest from the Brett Cavanough-trained runner-up.
Cavanough, though, had a breakthrough success on Monday at Grafton. The Scone trainer recently opened a stable in Ballina and he had his first success out of the operation when Puerto Rico won a 1005m class 1.
At Scone, Nestor rode a winning double, finishing the day aboard Mydeel, which overcame a weaving run to salute first-up since coming to the stable of Newcastle trainer Rod Ollerton.