Jarred Hetherington celebrates two winners as Narrabri Harness Racing Club hosts first meeting of the year

Five Narrabri-trained pacers will line up in feature race finals at Narrabri Showground this Sunday following successful heat runs at the venue when Narrabri Harness Racing Club hosted their first meeting of the year this week on Easter Monday.

It was a memorable day for Narrabri trainer Jarred Hetherington, who had 10 horses in action. Two of them were victorious and two more secured podium finishes.

His two winners both ran in Santos Cup heats as Hunter Valley reinsman Leigh Sutton drove Far Out Ringo to an eight-metre victory in the fifth race of the day before Tamworth reinsman Anthony Varga drove Whata Terror to a 16-metre victory in race six.

Hetherington will also have one in the John and Beryl Dean Memorial final this Sunday after Sutton drove Limousine Cheeky to a second-place finish in heat two in the third race of the day on Easter Monday.

The eighth and final race of the local meeting saw Sutton successfully drive another Hetherington-trained pacer to a podium finish as Chal Be placed third.

Narrabri driver Chris Shepherdson was onboard two podium finishes on the day, one of which was in a Santos Cup heat as he and the Peter Shepherdson-trained Lookat Mee placed second in race five in a Narrabri quinella behind Far Out Ringo. The local reinsman then drove the Gary Shepherdson-trained Montana Nights to a third-place finish in race seven.

Lookat Mee and Montana Nights qualified for this Sunday’s Santos Cup final alongside Wahta Terror and Far Out Ringo.

Easter Monday was a historic day for Hetherington. He had never taken 10 pacers to the races before and he was proud to have been able to do so at his hometown track. He was particularly impressed with a few of them and he told The Courier he enjoyed racing in Narrabri.

“It was a good day over there,” the Narrabri trainer said.

“I didn’t get to see much because we had 10 in and that kept us on our toes a bit. Ten is the most I’ve taken to the races before actually.

“We love racing here in Narrabri. I think last year we raced in Menangle, Brisbane, Parkes, Dubbo, Newcastle, Tamworth, Armidale, Redcliffe and Albion Park. The smallest trip there is a two-hour trip, so to race here and know you don’t have to travel far to get home is big in itself.

“Like I said, it was a good day. It’s great that in the Santos Cup final there will be (four) local horses because the Shepos qualified (two) too. That is just great.

“Hopefully we get more people up there on Sunday in the crowd.”

Hetherington thought that Far Out Riungo and Whata Terror’s performances were both admirable and he was pleased with the way they were driven.

“(Far out Ringo) showed power to get to the front and he was the horse to beat from the draw. Probably with him, we would have been happy to sit outside them, but once Leigh found the front, he was able to dictate terms to suit and he did it pretty easy in the end,” the Narrabri trainer said.

“He’s been a very handy horse for us and he’s got a big future. It might be 12 to 18 months before we see the best of him.

“(Whata Terror), his result speaks for itself. He was just far too good for them.

“We targeted this meeting with him after he had the one run back from a spell two or three weeks prior to here. We kept him ticking over and he had to work pretty hard to hold them off. He kept holding them off, and once he pulled the plugs and let him down, he really let down. He found the line really nicely and he was still running through the line.”

The first race of the day on Monday was the 1760-metre Logan Furniture & Bedding and Bi Rite pace, which kicked off the event just after 1pm. Luke Whitaker drove the Tom Ison-trained Safe Jewels to victory after starting behind pole position on the second line and beating pole position starter Zacharooni, which was driven by Jye Coney for Gregory Coney, by a little under three metres.

Race two was the 1760-metre CGJ Glass & Aluminium and Kelly’s Car Sale pace, which was the first John and Beryl Dean Memorial heat of the day. The Dwayne Brown-trained, Caitlin McElhinney-driven Smolenski won that by eight metres as the Lola Weidemann-trained-and-driven Junior Ryan ran home second. Blake Hughes drove the Anthony Missen-trained Happy Hamish to third place in that race, and they then combined to win the third of the day when Hughes drove Cobla Royale to a four-metre win in the 1760-metre Bell & Johnson Solicitors and Watson Kitchen pace ahead of Hetherington’s Limousine Cheeky.

Race number four saw McElhinney earn her second win of the day as the Jamie Donovan-trained Paratrouper stormed home to a half-head victory ahead of the Ison-trained-and-driven Night To Remember in the 2160-metre C & D Electronics and Tapscott Service Station pace, which was the first Santos Cup heat.

The second Santos Cup heat in race number five was the 2160-metre Namoi Western Veterinary Clinic pace that finished with a Narrabri quinella as Far Out Ringo and Lookat Mee placed first and second, and the third Santos Cup heat in race six was the 2160-metre Gordon Roadways pace, which was claimed by Whata Terror as Hetherington oversaw his second winner of the day.

The fourth and final Santos Cup heat in race seven was the 2160-metre Max Ormon Toyota pace, which was won by the Brendan James-trained, Grace Panella-driven Shadow Eclipse from the Weidemann-trained-and-driven Delightful Raindow and third-placed Shepherdson-trained-and-driven Montana Nights.

Hughes and Missen then teamed up again to win the eighth and final race of the day as Bulldog Brawler claimed the 1760-metre Daisy’s Water Carrier pace ahead of the Ison-trained-and-driven Tarifa Girl and Hetherington’s Chal Be.

This Sunday’s Narrabri Harness Racing Club meet will not only host the 2024 Santos Cup and John and Beryl Dean Memorial finals but also crown a new Narrabri Cup winner. Five other races will be run across an eight-race program, one of which will be the Ray Shepherdson Memorial.