Talented apprentice Jacob Opperman moved within one win of joining the senior riding ranks with a Morphettville double on the weekend.
Opperman was on the board early when Magnetic Edge was successful before he got Kalasec home at a nice price for the Richard and Chantelle Jolly stable and place him just one win away from outriding his claim.
It was the first leg of a winning double for the Jolly stable who claimed the feature Durbridge Stakes with lightly raced mare Aitch Two Oh who led throughout with Jake Toeroek in the saddle and put herself forward as a leading carnival prospect in the process.
“We were quietly confident,’’ Richard Jolly said.
“It’s good to have her back to her best, hopefully we can go forward and run her in some nice races in our carnival,’’ he said.
Opperman shared riding honours with another apprentice Alana Livesey who won the opening race aboard Canford before Storm Voyager broke through for a deserving win for the Darryl Carrison stable late in the day.
The brilliant run for Justin Pickering continued when former New South Wales mare Just Like Lisa claimed the last race of the day, Pickering’s 20th career win from just 100 runners and the mare’s third win from just five starts on SA soil.
AT Murray Bridge on Friday Crimson Vine provided local trainer Sam Burford a perfect farewell from the training ranks when she scored an impressive win first-up from a spell with Teagan Voorham in the saddle.
It was a day of high emotion with one of SA’s leading riders Justin Potter landing his first win as a trainer in the colours of the late Brian Mueller when Sun Flipper was successful.
Local horseman Garret Lynch claimed a training double while Lachlan Neindorf took riding honours with a double aboard Runaway Belle and the well-bred Apache Discreet on debut for the Dan Clarken and Oopy MacGillivray
