Indigo Blue has a red-letter day
BEN Kennedy piloted Indigo Blue into first place in the Rockingham Beach Cup on Sunday. The Adam Durrant-trained four-year-old mare was a length in front of Mankind, ridden by Irish jockey Chris Graham and trained by Hayden Ballentyne.
Third was The Cat Ratcher (correct), trained by David Harrison and written by Kyra Yuill.
Last weekend was a big one for Kyra. The day before her Beach Cup placing, she became the first female jockey to win the WA Champion Fillies Stakes over 1600m on Searchin’ Roc’s, also trained by David Harrison.
The cup final climaxed a unique afternoon's racing. Apart from the novelty of horse racing on the beach, the event's format is also different. Five races preceded the Beach Cup final and the winner of each of those five races contested the cup.
It is estimated that a crowd of 20,000 attended the beach cup festivities onshore.
Watercraft — ranging from kayaks and jet skis to tinnies, motor launches, and massive private yachts — lined up metres from the shore. Their human cargoes watched the races in comfort, often diving into the water cool off on a day which topped at 31°C.
