Tim Clark’s inspired run of form since his return from Hong Kong continued at Canterbury on Wednesday when he teamed up with leading trainer Chris Waller for a winning double.
Clark spent 20 months in Hong Kong where he rode almost 60 winners before cutting short his tenure to return home for family reasons.
He had his first ride back in Australia last week and since then has scored feature race wins in the Wagga Wagga Gold Cup aboard Scream Machine and Gold Coast Guineas aboard the Peter Snowden-trained Academus.
The victory by Instrumentalist at Canterbury gave him his first Sydney metropolitan winner since his return and he backed it up three races later aboard Loophole.
“It’s obviously nice to be back and nice to be back riding winners,” Clark said.
“I’ve had good support from the big stables and I’m trying to make those opportunities count.”
Clark said Hong Kong was a great experience but added it was up to others to judge whether his time away had made him a more complete rider.
“It’s not something for me to decide. I just want to ride well and the experts can decide that,” Clark said.
“I’m just trying to ride winners and get a bit of momentum over the winter and going into the spring.
“(Hong Kong) was an invaluable experience, going there and riding in that pressure-cooker environment week-in, week-out.”
Loophole’s victory was a special one for part-owner Debbie Kepitis, part of the famous Ingham racing family.
While she has won her share of races she got a real kick out of the midweek success as Loophole, a son of the Ingham’s champion Lonhro, was the first yearling she had selected herself.
“He was sold at Karaka and when he came into the ring … he looked up at me the way Lonhro did when he was going to the barrier for Darren Beadman, so I thought `I have to have him’,” Kepitis said.
The Canterbury meeting also provided trainer Brian Gentle with a career milestone.
A former foreman to top trainers John O’Shea and Clarry Conners, Gentle celebrated his first Sydney metropolitan winner on Wednesday when Destiny Rising thumped his rivals by 4-1/4 lengths in the opening race.
However, the win did necessitate a change of plans.
“It was good he won today but I was going to go to Queensland in two-and-a-half weeks for a $100,000 maiden so that’s out of play,” Gentle said.
