Good things come in pairs
Kiwi trainer Donna Logan ends drought with good-priced winners Golden Flame and Makkem lad
Two months and 41 runners without a win would surely sap any trainer's morale.
That was Kiwi trainer Donna Logan's predicament until Saturday, when she ended a lean spell with not one but two good-priced winners.
Golden Flame played giant-killer by beating the $10 favourite Starlight to pay $76 in Race 5, the $50,000 Class 4 Div 1 event over 1,400m on turf.
Four races later in the day's main event - the $70,000 Class 3 race over 1,200m on turf - $41 shot Makkem Lad made it a double for Logan to bring her season's tally to just three winners.
She had been experiencing a dought after outsider Pasir Pinji's victory on Jan 23.
"It was about time. It has been a long dry patch for us," said a much-relieved Logan.
Golden Flame has been knocking on the door with a second and a third in his last two starts over the Polytrack 1,200m when ridden by apprentice jockey Hakim Kamaruddin.
With a riding change to the experienced senior jockey John Powell, the three-time winner moved up from a handy fifth to eventually gun down themuch-vaunted Starlightby a length.
He clocked 1min 23.47sec in the race run in the rain.
"This horse just likes the 1,400m and the rain wasn't going to worry him at all. JP rode him a treat," said Logan.
It was quite a tough field for Makkem Lad as the 58.5kg joint topweight with Magic Wand. But, with apprentice jockey Yusoff Fadzli's 3kg claim and the inner-most barrier, he made it pillar to post for his sixth success in 19 starts.
He fended off a strong challenge from Magic Wand, whose rider Noh Senari claimed 1kg. He scored by half a length and clocked 1min 09.90sec.
"This horse has got such a big heart. He tries so hard all the time, and he loves the 1,200m on turf," said Logan.
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