Sport
3 November, 2026
Hammoon Sensation wins transferred Coona Cup
Washed-out last week and transferred to Dubbo, Hammoon Sensation has won the 2026 Coonabarabran Cup.
Raced at Dubbo; Saturday, October 31
Washed out last week and transferred to Dubbo, the $75,000 Imperial Hotel Coonabarabran Cup was a thriller with a neck margin separating the first four across the finish line.
Reece Jones would have ridden Hammoon Sensation at Coonabarabran, however, booked for rides at Randwick on Saturday, he was replaced by Kody Nestor at Dubbo.
Wearing the gold with black Maltese cross colours of prominent owners Paul and Bindi Frampton from Merriwa, Kody Nestor gave the Rod Northam, Scone-trained Hammoon Sensation a good run parked behind the leaders in the 1600 metres cup run in front of a huge crowd.
Over the frantic, final strides, Hammoon Sensation ($2.35 favourite) edged to the front and won by a half-neck from Egyptologist (Jake Pracey-Holmes, $14) with a head to Talkachino (Jacob Stiff, $15) while Micro Mikki was a very close fourth.
The 1100 metres North West Equestrian Showcase Sprint was also washed-out at Coonabarabran and at Dubbo was won by the highly consistent five-year-old mare Crook from the Clint Lundholm stable at Dubbo.
Non-claiming apprentice Zoe Hunt is riding in top form and she brought Crook ($2.45 favourite) from back in the field with a rails run to beat Castlebar Road (Gabrielle Johnston, $8.50) and How’s It Kev (Glenn Cahill. $12).
Last start Forbes winner Quasimoto gave Clint Lundholm and Zoe Hunt a Dubbo double when winning the 1300 metres Hello Sport Benchmark 58 Handicap.
Close to the lead at the top of the straight, Quasimoto ($4.60 to $4.20) won by a half-length from the fast finishing Divine Conclusion (Jasmine Urqahart-Warren, $18) and Onyspeed (Clayton Gallagher, $3.30 favourite).
Another Dubbo trainer having a successful run is Paul Clisby who landed a winning double with Sleek ‘N' Style and Supreme Style, both being ridden by leading apprentice Jacob Stiff.
Fast away from the outside barrier, Sleek ‘N’Style ($10) made it two wins in succession when leading throughout to beat Marinera (Clayton Gallagher, $4 favourite) and Penciller (Liberty Smyth, $7) in the 1200 metres Tracserv Class One Handicap while Supreme Style ($2.90 favourite) led for home when winning the 1000 metres Inland Petroleum Benchmark 66 Handicap from Miss Capricorn (Clayton Gallagher, $15) and Keadool (Gabrielle Johnston, $6).
Godwits, winner of the opening race is an older half-brother to Skua which later in the day was unplaced in the Victoria Derby at Flemington after finishing second in a Group Two race the previous week.
Skua is trained by Ciaron Maher at Cranbourne while Godwits is from the Todd Smith stable at Dubbo and has won several races this campaign.
Presented by Todd Smith as a very fit stayer for the 2200 metres Burgun and Williams Benchmark 66 Handicap, Godwits (Jake Pracey-Holmes, $4.40 to $4) took the lead nearing the home turn and raced to an over four lengths win from D’Oro Choice (Liberty Smyth, $3.10 favourite) and Tavijewel (Jacob Stiff, $4.40).
Racing in the red and black stripes colours of the Gooree Stud, the David Smith, Mudgee trained Beyond Perfection (Clayton Gallagher, $2.90 to $2.25 favourite) landed some big bets and was impressive when coming from back in the field to win the 1000 metres Callaway Roofing and Construction Maiden Handicap.
The other winners were the Brett and Georgie Cavanough, Scone-trained Big Brad (Liberty Smyth, $4.80 equal favourite) and Smart Scud (Jasmine Urqahart-Warren, $3.40 favourite) trained at Scone by Rod Northam.
