Great day for cup

By Kath Gannaway
CRAIG Kirkpatrick rode Heartofthedevil to a win in the Healesville Cup on Saturday before an enthusiastic St Patrick’s Day crowd of 2500 people.
Heart of the devil, trained at Kyneton by Darren Stumpo, came through to win ahead of favourite Jugarri riden by crowd favourite Adam Bodey in a fitting tight cup finish.
Healesville Amateur Racing Club president John O’Neill said the cup meeting attracted one of the biggest fields for the season – limited as it has been with several meetings cancelled through floods and rain.
“It was the perfect racing day with a great, relaxed crowd, including a lot of locals, some great performances on the track, cherry ripe weather conditions and brilliant entertainment,” he said.
Among the race crowd were Seymour MP Cindy McLeish and Country Racing Victoria CEO Scott Whiteman.
“It was a great day for picnic racing,” said Mr O’Neill who is lobbying to have a St Patrick’s Day meeting approved for next season after cuts to the meeting schedule this year.
The next meeting at Healesville will be the last for the 2010/11 season on Saturday 9 April.