Bamford celebrates second milestone for 2022 season

Young harness racing trainer, Tom Bamford achieved his second milestone of the 2022 racing season when Muscle Bank (Muscle Hill) won the North Motors Handicap Trot at the Geraldine Cup meeting on Saturday afternoon (Nov 26.).

Having celebrated his first winning drive only 6 months ago, Bamford registered his first win as a trainer with Muscle Bank, easily accounting for the opposition on the lush green surface at the Orari Racecourse.

The blue-blood daughter of Muscle Hill was a brilliant winner, stepping safely and being taken straight to the front by regular pilot Gavin Smith.

It was a position she would ultimately never relinquish and, in the end, made the rest of the field look a little ordinary as she cleared away from them to win by a whopping nine lengths untested.

Bamford who had only taken out his training license last year was naturally delighted with the first training success coming from just his eleventh race day starter.

“It’s good to get the first one under the belt and a big thanks to Ronnie Dawe for letting me train this mare for him and it was good to reward him with a win,” he said speaking to Nigel Armstrong of Harness Racing Unhinged after the race.

“I took her off the unruly for the first time, and we lobbed the one draw and were a little worried she would be standing there for a while.

“Gav was pretty confident, and he drove her to her strengths, and she got the job done so it was bloody good,” he said.

MUSCLE BANK REPLAY

Muscle Bank is bred to be good being the second foal from Continental Auto (Continentalman), a Group Two winning juvenile filly who is best remembered for her titanic dual with The Fiery Ginga (CR Commando) in the NZ Sires Stakes 2YO Final.

It was win number four from just 18 starts for Muscle Bank and her second in the space of two months on the grass where she is also twice placed with her young trainer confirming her love of the surface.

“She loves the grass, and she trots her best when she is running the last bend at speed. If she can find the front, she just loves it.

“Gav knows her better than most, and he sort of let her slide early and ripped them round that last bend, and on the tight track, she kicked away from them and won well,” he said.

For complete Geraldine results, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink