Melbourne Cup Day seems to be a lucky day for trainer Brad Herne and 2015 was no exception with the stable clocking up its first metropolitan double with Cocoa Bar and Quelle Liaison.
“Quelley actually won on Melboune Cup Day last year at the Gold Coast,” Herne said.
“I think we’ve had a winner on Melbourne Cup Day each year for the past five years so it’s a day I look forward to.”
Herne’s winning account started in race three when the lightly raced Cocoa Bar finally had some luck and broke through for his maiden win in impressive fashion. The four year old by Manhattan Rain joined the Herne stable two starts ago having had previous stints with Nigel Blackinston and Paul Messara. Both starts for the stable have been sound just lacking a bit of luck.
“His first up run was super when he drew bad and was caught wide, carrying 59kg and his condition gave out 50 from home,” Herne said.
“Last start a lot of things went wrong for him including missing the start and getting caught on the fence in the straight. Brad rode him perfect today and I came here pretty confident he could do what he did as he’s a pretty smart horse.”
Herne’s double came in the following race when Quelle Liaison bounced back to winning form aided by a great front running ride from Teagan Harrison. Herne was firm with his instructions to Harrison and she didn’t disappoint.
“I told Teagan to really drive her out of the gates and get her mind on the job. Sometimes I think she can be a bit lax and last start when she missed the kick it was like she wasn’t interested in racing. Teagan really set her alight today and it showed in the finish when she was still strong on the line and she even shaved more than a second and a half off the class record.”
Herne’s double along with the win by Olja on Saturday at the Gold Coast has broken a frustrating run of placings for the stable and the relief was evident yesterday.
“I can’t really complain as the horses have been performing really well of late. We’ve been a bit unlucky with barrier draws and luck in running of late so to notch up these winners is really satisfying. I think from our past twenty runners or so there would only be a couple of horses that have finished out of the first four so hopefully today is the start of a steady stream of winners.”
