Emma Pritchard

The wet weather failed to dampen the spirits of racegoers who attended the 2022 Coutts Crossing Cup race day meeting, hosted by the Clarence River Jockey Club (CRJC) on September 3.

Despite 16mm of rain falling overnight, an inspection of the racing surface by stewards at 10am deemed there was no obvious deterioration to the track condition, allowing the 6-race program to proceed.

Horses with wet track form shortened considerably in the market with the track rated a Heavy 9 as rain continued to fall periodically throughout the afternoon.

It proved to be a favourable outing for punters with the longest priced winner of the day paying $5.50.

More than 60 horses including 11 emergencies who gained a start following numerous scratchings jumped from the barriers with Northern Rivers trainers including Grafton based Jason Reilly and Greg Howells winning races 1 and 6 respectively with their progressive gallopers Skoozi’s Flyer and Blend.

The feature race of the day, the Demmery’s Bus Service Coutts Crossing Cup Benchmark 50 Handicap over 1710m attracted a field of 12 starters.

Having his third run off the back of a four week freshen up, New Zealand bred gelding Fenerbache (NZ) started the $4.80 equal favourite alongside Noteably.

Prepared at Glen Innes by Paul Grills, Fenerbache (NZ) jumped cleanly from barrier 5 for jockey Jodi Worley, who promptly rode the eight-year-old son of Bernardini (USA) forward to settle in the first half of the field as Blue Tone assumed the early lead.

As Noteably raced to the front at the top of the home straight, Fenerbache (NZ) dug deep on the rain affected ground to claim the lead inside the final 100m before racing clear to record a solid 1.42 length victory.

Noteably fought on to hold second ahead of a fast-finishing Street Baby, who finished third.

Fenerbache (NZ) advanced his race record to three wins and 10 minor placings from 43 starts with career prizemoney just shy of $70000.

The CRJC will host their next race meeting on September 19.