Georgina Cartwright could not have been more excited or more pleased with herself.
Fresh from riding the winners of both the Cairns Cup and the Daintree Guineas on Saturday, Cartwright was all charged up when ticking an unusual box at Kilcoy on Sunday, jumping at the chance to take part in a mini-trotters race … her smile beaming like a spotlight as she made her way driving down the home straight at Kilcoy, not travelling as fast as she is used to, but that only meant she could enjoy the pleasure of the moment for that much longer.
‘Thought I’d just have a brief change of career. It’s a bit of a dream come true. I’ve been wanting to do this for a couple of years,” said Cartwright.
“I came back from Cairns last night. Had a good night’s sleep. I had to be fresh and ready for this.”
The mini trotters experience topped off a near perfect weekend for Cartwright.
Her double feature race success at Cairns came aboard the Lindsay Gough trained Mahagony (in the Cairns Cup) and the Ricky Vale trained Pipistrelli (in the Daintree Guineas). Both of these runners started favourite in their respective races and both benefitted by being given two top drawer rides by Cartwright.
Cartwright had Mahagony racing comfortably in midfield until approaching the home turn in the Cup, where she made her forward move on cue before straightening as the widest runner in the leading group, placing Mahagony on exactly the part of the track she wanted to race on in the home straight.
The horse did the rest, powering away with a gallop that proved to be too strong for his opposition to handle. The two-length margin of victory aptly summed up Mahagony’s level of authority when it mattered most.
Pipistrelli’s win following a fairly similar path, although this time Cartwright had to rally her mount from further back in the run to take the same wide, winning path in the straight that Mahagony had taken in the Cup.
It was still no gimme when Cartwright got there though, as Pippistrelli had all of five lengths to make up in the home straight but, with Cartwright having conserved her horse’s energy in the early part, the Ricky Vale runner was now full of running.
Yet again, Cartwright’s judgement proved to be spot on as Pippistrelli charged home to win going away by just under a length.
That result … completing a feature race double … cemented a big day out professionally for Cartwright.
If your saw her at Kilcoy on Sunday though, you would have got the firm impression that Cartwright’s brief time in the sulky this weekend edged out her time in the saddle to take out the ‘Enjoyment Stakes.’
Her smile said it all!
