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By John Curtis

Darryll Kell achieved his first goal with six-year-old mare Mahogany Girl by getting her back to the races.

It was some achievement given that after only one start when placed at Wagga in January 2022, she had been off the racing scene for 2½ years, which included having a foal last year.

Thus the Hawkesbury trainer could not have wished for a better result by winning his first provincial race with her at home on October 24.

Mahogany Girl (Chad Lever) gets the job done at Hawkesbury. Image by Bradley Photographers

Now the former harness racing devotee is looking to collect another bonus by making it two wins in a row with Mahogany Girl at Hawkesbury on Tuesday.

Chad Lever rides the mare in her trackwork, has partnered her in her three comeback runs (the first two were placings at Goulburn and Queanbeyan), and continues his association in the Pioneer Services Provincial Class 1 Handicap (1500m).

Kell, who has only a small team of thoroughbreds in work, was asked to give Mahogany Girl another chance to race by his close friends, successful harness racing breeders Scott and Kathy Robertson.

Mahogany Girl on debut as a three-year-old came from last on a heavy track to finish third in a Maiden Plate (1200m) at Wagga on January 6, 2022.

Unfortunately she went amiss, seemingly destined never to race again.

“Mahogany Girl had a colt foal by Peltzer in October last year,” Kell said. “She is a natural athlete, and the Robertsons were keen to see if she could make it back to the racetrack.

“My goal was to achieve that, so what she has done already has been a real bonus.

“I have given her time between her 4YO & Up Maiden Handicap (1300m) win last month and tomorrow’s race, and her work at Hawkesbury last Saturday week was very strong.

“Being a six-year-old mare with only four starts, she is still learning and I’m still learning about her. She hasn’t gone backwards and in fact has come on since the win.

“It’s never easy going straight from winning a Maiden to winning a Class 1 next start, but both Chad and myself are happy with her. The topweight (C’mon Mate) looks the one we have to beat.”

TAB market assessors are in agreement with Kell’s observations with C’mon Mate the $2.60 favourite ahead of Mahogany Girl at $3.70.

Whilst Kell obviously would like to double up with his mare, talented Wyong apprentice Anna Roper is making a comeback of her own and understandably wants to break the ice.

She rides Kembla Grange trainer Ross McConville’s C’mon Mate; her 2kg provincial claim reducing the gelding’s weight to 57kg.

Last season’s Rising Star Series winner, Roper has already ridden 131 winners in a career unfortunately punctuated by injury.

She underwent surgery in late July on a troublesome knee, initially injured in an after-race incident at Muswellbrook in November 2022 when she had surgery to repair the medial cruciate ligament.

Roper returned on November 2 at Newcastle when placed on Mark Minervini’s Rubi’s Serve at her first ride, and has since tallied another five placings; the latest on Yes Ma (Marc Chevalier) and Smiling Prophet (Mark Minervini) at her home track meeting last Saturday, and Considered (Cody Morgan) at Armidale on Sunday.

Whilst five-year-old gelding C’mon Mate has won only one race, he has been placed 11 times, including a last start third to Rolling Magic in a Midway Benchmark 64 Handicap (1600m) at Hawkesbury on October 24; the same day Mahogany Girl won.

The rail is in the TRUE position for tomorrow’s meeting, and course manager Kyle Cassim at 8am today posted a Good 4 rating with a penetrometer reading of 4.99.

No rainfall had been received in the 24 hours to that time, and only 2mm recorded in the past seven days. A total of 15mm of irrigation has been put on the track in the past week, but nothing in the last 24 hours.

The seven-race program begins at 1.50pm.

View the final fields with full form & race replays for Hawkesbury here