SINGLETON jockeys and trainers had a huge day at Muswellbrook's Melbourne Cup Race Meeting on Tuesday.
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Aaron Bullock and Mikayla Weir both rode a double, while Todd Howlett trained two winners.
There was connection between them too, with Weir riding Howlett's Souchong to victory in race three, while Bullock got Makana over the line first for his Lower Belford counterpart in race two.
In that latter event, the Singleton hoop withstood the pressure of being favourite and beat out Dragon's Beauty by 1.3 lengths on the 4-year-old mare.
"I jumped the horse out with Todd a couple of weeks ago and it gave me a terrific feel when I jumped it out, so I was always confident going to the races it would put itself on speed and it did exactly what I thought it would," he said.
"It was good to get the maiden win out of the way, especially for Todd because I was an apprentice to him and it's always good to ride winners for him."
However, he said the most special feeling came in race seven. Riding 5-year-old mare Carrera To The Max, which was paying $10 on Sportsbet to win, he again won by 1.3 lengths and said he was pleased for Muswellbrook trainer Justin Bowen.
"I get a bit numb to riding winners because it happens on a regular basis, but when you ride winners for young trainers or battlers you get a good kick out of it."
Weir has also become accustomed to winning, but admitted Tuesday's event did feel a bit special.
"It's always good to ride winners and it's even better on Cup Day, Muswellbrook isn't a huge meeting but it's nice to be noticed," she said.
She also sprung a surprise in race six, finding success on Jan Bowen's 6-year-old mare Iamacrumpet, which the bookies had at $8.50 to come in first.
In that run she just nudged out Bullock on Brett Cavanough's Another Sin by .4 lengths.
"Jan Bowen had another one in that race... I let her other horse go because I'm not going to get into a speed battle with a stablemate, so I came back to the fence and rode for a bit of luck, and she was good enough to get over the top of them."
Howlett's two victories were part of a trend on Tuesday, with local trainers winning six of the seven races.
