Lawrence ferry tragedy

By Tim Howard

A man has died after a cane truck has entered the Clarence River at Lawrence while driving onto the Bluff Point ferry service.
About 10am emergency services were called to Merton Street, Lawrence, following reports a truck had entered the water.
At the scene, emergency services were told that a truck was attempting to board a vehicle ferry before it entered the water.
Members of the public removed the man from the truck and commenced CPR prior to the arrival of emergency services.
NSW Ambulance paramedics attempted CPR on the man; however, he was unable to be revived.
The driver is yet to be formally identified but is believed to be a man aged in his 50s.
Officers attached to Coffs/Clarence Police District established a crime scene and have commenced inquiries into the incident.
A police media release said a report would be prepared for the Coroner and Safe Work NSW had been notified.
The Bluff Point Ferry was closed in both directions: Motorists can consider using Big River Way and Lawrence Road to cross the Clarence River via Grafton.
Boat traffic is also urged to avoid the area. For live traffic updates visit: www.livetraffic.com
The place where the truck entered the water is one of the deepest sections of the river.
A resident said the water was more than 20m deep just off the bank of the river.
“There’s a ledge just off the bank there that goes straight down,” a resident said.
He said recovering the truck would be a big job.
The incident played havoc with school bus services who use the ferry.
The Lawrence Bus Service put up a social media post alerting parent to the delays,
On the Lawrence side of the river buses picked up at the usual times and used alternative routes to get children to their destinations around 30 minutes later than usual.
But parents of children on the Woodford Island side of the river were told they would need to arrange alternative transport.
The bus services said they alerted schools and sent text messages to parents.
The Clarence Regional Library mobile service was also delayed until 3pm.

South Cup rising to top in July

By Tim Howard

The South Grafton Cup has risen to challenge the Grafton Cup and Ramornie Hcp as the leading races at the Grafton July Racing Carnival says CRJC executive officer Michael Beattie.

Beattie said the numbers showed that since the race became a qualifying event for the Big Dance, South Cup Day was now a legitimate third big day for the carnival.

He said the South Grafton Cup winner, Cepheus, came to the carnival with a benchmark rating of 106 points, while the Grafton Cup winner was rated 105.

“It means the highest benchmark rated horse that race at the carnival, would show, from a technical perspective, that the South Grafton Cup has become the strongest race,” he said.

Beattie described the change as “very positive” and indicated the carnival was developing away from a two big day event to a carnival with three main days.

He was also excited at the number of big metropolitan stables sending teams to the carnival.

“You’ve got the likes of Chris Waller, Peter and Paul Snowden, Chris Lees, Chris Munce, Annabelle Neesham,” he said.

“You’ve got this depth right through the carnival when these people are supporting its major events.”

Beattie said from a racing purist’s perspective the Grafon Cup winning ride of Blake Shinn on Deny Knowledge turned a good race into a great one.

“It was a sensation race and made better by one of the best tactical rides you’ll ever see to win a Grafton Cup,” Beattie said.

“I suppose the best jockey in the race was on the best horse in the race, but he gave the best ride in the race.

“By the time the race got to the 1200m it was the end of the penny section, because he had outmanoeuvred them all.”

Beattie said the result in Ramornie was also a pleasing outcome that could have been unfortunate.

“He suffered severe interference mid-race, Ka Bling, and if he had been beaten, would have had a real hard luck story,” he said.

“He was able overcome that interference and still pick them up and beat them, so it was one of those situations you love to see.

“In fact I think it was great that all three winners in the Grafton Cup, Ramornie and South Cup were the best horses in the race on the day.”

Beattie said that away from the racing the carnival was a highly successful social occasion with good crowds enjoying a friendly atmosphere.

He said the development of Grafton Cup Day’s Fashions on the Field into a signature event attracting people in its own right was the result of careful planning.

He said the South Cup and Grafton Cup days once shared fashion events, but a decision to focus on Grafton Cup Day as the fashion day was working.

“A few years ago we asked our customers, especially female customers, and they indicated to us that that situation wasn’t suitable to them,” Beattie said.

“Their view was the biggest fashion day should be Grafton Cup Day and I think it’s telling that it’s getting bigger and better from a participation perspective.”
Beattie said it was too early to say turnover the five days of racing generated, but the raw figures suggested not a lot of difference from last year.

“In this economic climate, to be holding your own, is a situation not a lot of racing clubs would emulate,” he said.

He said the club would not be sitting on its laurels and there would be a debrief and assessment of what worked and what needed to improved.

“Overall I would say what we planned and put in place seemed to work,” he said.

“But you always have to try and make things a little bit better each year.

“We’ve extended the members’ area over the past few years and the popularity of that’s been amazing.

“So when the dust settles we’ll have a bit of a review and see what things we can change for the future.”

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Hit and run raid secures Cup

By Tim Howard

Star jockey Blake Shinn’s hit and run raid on Grafton’s July Racing Carnival has netted him a third Grafton Cup.

Shinn showed why he is rated one of the country’s top riders, piloting Pride of Dubai mare Deny Knowledge to the lead in the $200,000 Listed Grafton Cup (2350m), galloping home strongly to win by three quarters of length.

Backed into $2.45 favouritism, the Irish born galloper did not have it all her own way, with the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained Touristic piling on the pressure in the home straight. The Chris Waller runner Thalassophile was a distant third.

Shinn had kept enough in reserve and Deny Knowledge powered her way to the line.

The Victorian-based rider, who had flown into town just for this race, said he had confidence in the horse from the time she paraded.

“I thought she paraded really, really well, better than last time,” Shinn said in a post race interview.

“Therefore her manners out on the track and in the race were perfect and I was able to put her where I wanted to be in that first two furlongs, which set the race up nicely for the last part.”

Grafton Cup winning jockey salutes the crowd as he rides back to scale after a masterful ride on six-year-old mare Deny Knowledge to secure the cup for a third time.

During the race Shinn made the most of his ride’s abilities.

“She’s a natural leader and at 24(00-metres), we may have been a little suspect,” he said.

“If I was going to burn the candle at both ends it was going to be hard and the pressure in the first 300 was quite quick, so there was an opportunity to drop in and rest around that first turn.

“When they backed off, I made a decision to roll to the top and get her into a zone where she loves to be, and once I was able to find the top, I was confident a long way out.”

It is 11 years since Shinn’s first Grafton Cup win on the Ciaron Maher-trained Mr O’Ceirin.

He won again for Gai Waterhouse two years later on Bonfire.

It was Deny Knowledge’s second start for the Yulong stable where she is trained by Melbourne Cup winning duo Anthony and Sam Freedman.

Purchased at the recent Magic Millions for $500,000, she repaid her new owners $109,000 with her win last Thursday.

Deny Knowledge’s track rider Henry Jaggard accepted the trophy from the CEO of race sponsor Westlawn Finance, Mark Dougherty.

Deny Knowledge hits the line to win the $200,000 Westlawn Finance Grafton Cup from Touristic in second spot.

He revealed the six-year-old’s good manners trackside and during the race were a fairly recent development.

“She’s definitely a temperamental horse, but she’s worth working with,” he said.

Jaggard said he ride all her track work and has been building a relationship with the horse since she came into the stable.

“She’s a proper athlete,” he said. “That doesn’t make her easy to get on with, but any trainer would like to think they can get the best out of her.”

He said though she was not built like a traditional stayer, she was going to become a very valuable horse for the Freedmans.

Her winnings from her last two starts have taken her prize money close to the $1 million mark with an overall record of eight wins and eight placings from 34 starts.

Jaggard said Deny Knowledge also had promise as a brood mare and was not sure how long her racing career might continue.

“There are some races coming up for her in the spring, so we’re concentrating on those,” he said.

The final race on the program, the $75,000 Sir James Kirby Quality (1000m) provided a fitting end to a high quality day’s racing.

Compelling Truth scored a slashing victory enhancing his credentials for The Kosciusko, coming up in in October.

The Mack Griffith-trained galloper overcame an awkward start to power home, beating Bomarea by nearly four lengths with Immoral further back in third.

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