Racing: Patience rewarded

Photo / Thinkstock

Yes, it's easy to criticise apprentices, especially South Island apprentices.

Credit where credit is due - Courtney Barnes scored a career-best victory on Include in Saturday's Dunedin Guineas with a career-best ride.

What appears to be a new low-down camera angle of the Wingatui home straight provides a graphic picture of the rise halfway down the straight. As with the same configuration at Sydney's Randwick Racecourse, horses get beaten by being ridden up that rise.

Those who cuddle and wait until the top get rewarded on both tracks.

For a young rider who hadn't previously ridden such a winner, Barnes could have been excused for pressing the button before she reached the top of the rise on Saturday, but she held her cool and waited.

Had she kicked Include one stride earlier the horse would have been run down by El Doute, who flashed home to lose by a nose.

And it was no hack rider Barnes beat - El Doute was ridden by Hayden Tinsley.

Such efforts mostly go unheralded. Because punters talk through their pockets, it's the bad rides that get noticed.

We've said it in this column previously - John and Karen Parsons deserve a medal for their results.

It's difficult campaigning a South Island-based team from Otago to Auckland and all spots between, but the Parsons do it brilliantly.

When the big money is up, so are their horses.

The Parsons won four at Otago on Saturday, one at $20,000, two at $25,000 and the $50,000 Dunedin Gold Cup with Alpine Heights and all at useful tote prices.

Once again people like them do not receive the recognition they deserve.