LUCKY LAST!

Punters looking to get out on the last needed to look no further than Written Tycoon last night, with the Champion Sire producing the final winners on both the Canterbury and Moonee Valley programs.

Writteninthestars (from the Desert Sun mare Donna Carina) races out of the Chris Waller stable and lead from start to finish in the McGrath Estate Neutral Bay Handicap (1200m) at Canterbury.

Then 15 minutes later, Written Tycoon posted his double when Glenn Thornton’s Vibrant Rouge lobbed in good time over 1000m at the Valley.

Writteninthestars bounced back to the winners’ circle after tailing off at her most recent outing (also at Canterbury) and clearly appreciates the better going. A winner at Canterbury last time in, Writteninthestars (below) ran a promising second when resuming at Canterbury on 2 November.

And Glenn Thornton appears to have a very handy type in Vibrant Rouge (ex. Mirage Rouge by West Point) who has now won three from four, along with a neck second at Geelong.

Racing for the first time in July, Vibrant Rouge ran into more trouble than Flash Gordon on debut, but still scored by over two lengths at Geelong, then powered home for a near four length demolition – again at Geelong – on 10 August.

The Valley win was Vibrant Rouge’s first start in three months and she clearly has a big future.

Hoofnote (1): I can’t get over in this day and age how you can have two current racehorses – one in New Zealand and one here in Oz – that are both named Writteninthestars. Both are bays, both are mares, both were foaled in 2008 and both are sprinters. Now, while it’s unlikely the two will never face each other in a race, it’s extraordinary given the frequency of air transport that measures aren’t in place between the ruling bodies on both sides of the pond.

Hoofnote (2): Although the dynamics are totally different, champion jockey Billy Cook (1910-1985) was commonly known as ‘Last Race Cookie’ after riding the winner of the final event on 13 successive Saturdays in Sydney. Big effort!