Racing: Logan delighted with Ruakaka

Race three at Ruakaka racecourse’s winter race day saw local trainer Donna Logan secure a blanket finish with Thornbird Lass, Loves the Show and Big Voices rounding out the top three.

Winter race day action at Ruakaka racecourse heralded a convincing day's work for local trainer Donna Logan on Saturday - and all before midday.

Not only did the rampant running of three-year-old prospects Hasselhoof (ridden by Matthew Cameron) and Silencer (Opie Bosson) provide a satisfying, one-two, result in the Cowley's Hire Centre 1400 (race 2), but so too did a blanket win in the Fell Engineering 1600 (race 3).

Building on the success of race two, Thornbird Lass, Loves The Show and Big Voices rounded out the podium for race three.

Donna Logan enjoys a moment in the sun after getting a quinella in race two and a trifecta in race three.

"It was really lovely to see a blanket finish for the stable like that," Logan said at the end of the third race.

"The track's perfect, I think all the jockeys would tell you the same [with] the times they're running.

"This time of the year you don't get surfaces like this anywhere else in the country.

"I walked the track this morning [and] it was like a bowling green. It was impressive to look at it today before the races started."

With the Ruakaka track providing an opulent surface for the local horses, the odds were in favour for many runners out of the Logan stable.

"Thornbird Lass won here [in the] last meeting one year ago today, so you'll find that horses actually hit their form again generally at the same time in the year," Logan said. "She's been racing so well down on bad tracks [and] she just got a bit of track today to suit her and a very thick, vigorous ride from Matty Cameron got her over the line."

With 21 nominations, Logan Racing had plenty of opportunities to lock in some solid results.

"They'd all worked super - it was pretty hard to split them on their work," Logan said.

This made it hard, even for Logan, to make an informed prediction.

"Sometimes something stands out but those whole three have worked super, I couldn't split them and they raced accordingly - first, second, third and probably a head covered them at the finish."

On debut for Logan Racing, Loves The Show ran a solid race when paired with champion jockey Opie Bosson.

"Opie said he [Loves The Show] loved the track [and] just felt enormous. Probably Opie peaked at the line, not the horse, cause Opie's been off with injury.

Other horses that won for Logan Racing included In Flight (Race 5) and Fiamette (Race 10).