It proved to be a long but fruitful day for Kelly Myers on Friday, with the now Central Districts-based hoop riding home Above The Clouds to win the $100,000 TAB Polytrack Championship (2000m) at Cambridge for local trainer Ralph Manning.
Above The Clouds did it tough from her wide barrier, sitting three-wide for much of the journey, but showed her class when distancing her rivals in the straight to score by 3-3/4 lengths over race favourite Spanish Lad.
“She drew the outside barrier and I was going to need a little bit of luck,” Myers said. “I thought I could have got into the one-one, but Craig (Grylls, jockey aboard Spanish Lad) obviously didn’t want to go to the fence, so we had to sit three-wide.
“She was handy and in a nice rhythm. When Sam Collett (jockey aboard Heart Of Gold) came around us I was able to sit in behind her and get a bit of a drag into the race.
“I don’t think it would have mattered how I rode her, she won pretty easily.”
The victory made the trip from Taranaki a lot easier for Myers, who has been living back on the family dairy farm for the last couple of months.
Myers said she and her family are loving being back in a rural environment and they are currently in the midst of calving, which kept Myers busy before having to head north to Cambridge on Friday.
“We have moved back to the family dairy farm and my husband and two kids are loving it,” she said.
“We moved down at the start of June. We are not too far from Mum, and we are a lot closer to Rosie (Fell, sister), which is great.
“It is a busy time for us at the moment, but we are coming to the finishing line, we haven’t got too many left to calve.
“I fed calves this morning before I went to Cambridge. It is a long drive, so to win that (Polytrack Championship) made it all worth it.”
Myers is coming off a pleasing season in the saddle, recording 59 wins, three at Group and Listed level, and accrued nearly $2.5 million in prizemoney, her best haul to date.
“It was good,” she said. “I had quite a few quiet patches and then a few good runs. All-in-all it was a good season and hopefully I can top it this season.”
Myers is hoping she can add to her season tally when she heads to her local meeting at Hawera on Sunday where she has a full book of seven rides, including two for Ralph Manning.
She will partner last start winners Dancin In The Dark and Small Town Girl in the Free Court (2100m) and Jinnibegood (1600m) respectively for the Cambridge trainer, and she is confident of bold showings from the pair.
“I think I have got a nice book at Hawera,” Myers said.
“I am riding two for Ralph that I won on last start at Waverley, and I think Ralph is pretty happy with how they have gone on. They should be pretty competitive.”
