Esmeralda the queen of Methven as Dalgety crowned NZ's Junior champion

By Mike Love 

It was one of Methven’s biggest dates in the racing calendar yesterday, with the two Green Miles and the Junior Drivers' Championships wrapping up. 

Esmeralda won the pacers version of the Green Mile in the Methven 4 Square Supermarket Pacers Green Mile in exciting fashion for trainer/driver Gerard O’Reilly, and it may have been enough to warrant a crack at the Group 1 Queen of Hearts in Auckland on December 12.

Starting from barrier five O’Reilly and Esmeralda pressed forward to look for the lead which eventually came after a torrid first 400 metres. From there O’Reilly kept the pace on running even quarters before being able to gap them up the straight, winning by three and a half lengths from a very game Misty Blue at big odds in second, stopping the clock in 1:55.6 - just 0.6 seconds outside of the track and race record set by AG’s White Socks back in 2017.

“She has surprised me with her last couple of starts. She’s just getting better and better,” said O’Reilly.

“She just ran along and does what she does which can take the sprint out of some of them. She feels like a good stayer. She doesn’t have a really quick quarter but what she’s got she can maintain for a long way.”

“The way she did it - in that time - was just unreal.”

Esmeralda, a four year old Always B Miki mare, has now won six from 16 with just shy of $100,000 in stakes. 

“We had a talk to the owners so we might go to the Queen Of Hearts at this stage. I think she deserves a crack. It’s all a bit unknown how she’ll go that way round, but we’ve got to have a go.”

She is bred and raced by Rory Gearry, Phillipa Cooke and Brian Kerr - whom Esmeralda began her racing career with.

After Esmeralda ventures north she will then set her sights on races like the Premier Mares at Addington, usually held around January/February. 

In the trotters version the Yabby Dam Farms Trotters Green Mile Mighty Logan was too slick for Woodend Beach trainers Robert and Jenna Dunn with John Dunn in the sulky, trotting the mile in a new track and race record of 1:57.4, just beating Oscar Bonavena’s winning record of 1:57.5 which he posted last year.

Carter Dalgety went on to win the New Zealand Junior Drivers Championship in a tight tussle with Monika Ranger who was leading the competition going into the last day. 

Dalgety hit the front of the series leaderboard after winning the penultimate heat when he drove Hey Tonight to victory for Barry Ward.

Both Dalgety and Ranger finished well back in their second heat of the day, with Ranger not being able to muster a good enough effort from Dennis Denuto to gain more points, leaving Dalgety with the win. 

“I got away to a good start, but I was lucky to hold on,” said Dalgety.

“I just wanted to finish as close as we possibly could in the last heat, but it didn’t really work out.” 

Hey Tonight’s victory secured the championship win for Dalgety who was impressed with the seven-year-old A Rocknroll Dance mares effort.

“When I found the top it felt super and ended up jogging it - it was a super win.” 

It was Dalgety's first win and the first by a male driver since 2017.

“We all look forward to doing this every year. It’s a bloody hard thing to win, I've had a few cracks at it and never got warm. I think just being consistent was the key and trying not to drive them too silly. It’s definitely a big thrill to get one of these comps because you only get limited cracks at them.”

“Obviously we are all from different regions so usually we only get to see each other at the races, so it’s been good to spend time with everyone, do some socialising and the trips around on the bus and what-not it’s good to get to know more people like that.”

Dalgety will be having a busy summer, heading to the coast and central circuits.

The final standings were:

1st Carter Dalgety 68pts
2nd Monika Ranger 66pts
3rd Mia Holbrough 46pts
4th Emily Johnson 45pts
5th Seth Hill 44pts
6th= Ellie Barron 45pts
6th= Wilson House 45pts
8th= Gemma Thornley 39pts
8th= Sam Thornley 39pts
10th Harrison Orange 35pts
11th Hayden Douglas 30pts
12th Crystal Hackett 29pts

Other highlights on the card included a double for Barry Ward with Hey Tonight and Anytime At All stepping out in the very next race with driver Blair Orange who also drove a double with Real Velocity for trainer James McDonald earlier in the programme. John Dunn also drove a double with Mighty Logan and Hi Hopes.