Mount Isa writes history with first Good Friday meeting in Queensland

It was a result that created a small piece of history at a low key meeting … but it was a piece of history, nevertheless.

For the record, the first race at Mount Isa at the first race-meeting ever held in Queensland on a Good Friday … a Class 3 Plate over 1110m … was won by the five-year-old gelding Heavenly Legend.

The Bevan Johnson trained son of Deep Field trounced his opposition in a manner you would expect from a $1.45 bookies favourite, coming home 4.17 lengths ahead of the second placed Manic Light, with the balance of the field well strung out in an undignified, single file fashion behind that with big gaps between runners going all the way back to the 32.66 lengths which the last placed runner finished behind the winner.

Heavenly Legend was ridden by the 3kg claiming apprentice Violet Soulsby and the Johnson / Soulsby trainer / jockey combination were about to make an even bigger mark on the meeting.

They quickly made it a race-to race double when taking out the second race … a BM60 Handicap over 1450m … with Shoalwater Bay, who won in a similar ‘no sweat’ fashion by a clearcut 3.37 lengths, scoring as the main fancy at a starting price of $3.

Two races later the Johnson / Soulsby team made it a treble for the day when Soulsby guiding the $1.50 favourite Invinciboo to victory in a QTIS Maiden Plate over 1200m. This was the gelding’s first run for Johnson, who is the geldings fourth trainer, and his first win in eighteen career starts.

Other winners on the day were Lord Valen (for trainer Shryn Royes and jockey Mitch Goring), Last Ditch Effort (for Tanya Parry and Brooke Stower), Mia Toretto (for Shryn Royes and Jason Hoopert) and Revolt (for Jay Morris and Mitch Goring)… meaning that four out of the eight trainers who supported the meeting came away with winners.

Soulsby took the riding honours with that Johnson trained treble. Mitch Goring rode two winners.