Shane Collins

WEDNESDAY May 13 was the ‘Thank You’ race day at the Gawler and Barossa Jockey Club, where all races were named after important sectors of both public and racing industries that have been crucial during the pandemic.
Angaston’s Tony and Calvin McEvoy kicked the day off with a great win by their three-year-old gelding, Fox D’Or, ridden by Barend Vorster. The pair powered home to score a comfortable one-and-three-quarters length win in the ‘Thank You Doctors Maiden’ over 1722 metres.
The three-year-old has been through two suspensory breakdowns, and co-trainer Tony McEvoy said the owners deserved to be rewarded for their patience.
Tony trains Fox D’or in partnership with his son, Calvin, and said the gelding has always shown promise.
“Unfortunately, he has had these two suspensory issues which meant he wasn’t able to make his debut until last month at Terang,” McEvoy said.
“He found the 1200 metres much too short and was outpaced… (then) I saw this 1700 metre race at Gawler and thought it would be ideal, so I brought him home to Angaston.”
Another highlight on the day was Chevite’s victory in race seven, the ‘Thank You Nurses Benchmark 54 Handicap’, for local trainer Michael McClean.
Chevite jumped to the front for Jockey Sairyn Fawke, and despite being challenged slightly around the turn, Chevite drove back to the lead and kicked away for a very impressive two-and-a-half-length win, also giving Fawke a double.
McClean only has a handful of horses in work, but is a very astute horseman in part due to his years of training as a farrier, while even working at the races behind the gates at most meetings across the state.
Chevite is a four-year-old gelding with only six starts for McClean, with this being his first win since joining the stable.
“I’m really pleased with today, he has struck harder tracks since I have had him and has been missing his starts a little, so I’ve done some work with him,” McClean said.
“He then jumped and lead in a very impressive jump out here last week, and with the cut out of the ground I was hoping he would improve today, and that he did.”
This all led to the most impressive win of the day in the last race, when the Philip Stokes-trained ‘Four of a Kind’ came from a long last to round the field up on the bend, before sprinting hard down the straight to snatch the win late for Kayla Crowther.
While the horse drew a wide gate and the intention was to get back, upon dismounting Crowther even acknowledged “I didn’t expect to get that far back”, but the impressive three-year-old filly was still too good, bringing up her second win in eight starts.
The racing at Gawler and around the state is still being conducted under strict restrictions, but the Gawler and Barossa Jockey Club is hopeful that some relaxed conditions may mean patrons, owners and members of the club will be returning soon.
Gawler’s next race meeting is on Wednesday, June 6.