Dark Ghana goes back to back

Seven year old trotting gelding Dark Ghana (The Pres) extended his winning way  today at Blenheim, after been victorious on the first day of the two day meeting on Friday.

From the ten metre handicap Dark Ghana began slowly. But driver John Morrison trotted the gelding up the inside to settle down in eighth on the inside. For the second half of the race Dark Ghana was four back in the outside running line. Morrison angled the gelding to the outside of the track and he got up to beat Sods Law by a length, with Top Of The Hill a nose back in third.

DARK GHANA REPLAY

“I watched the race in the birdcage. The winning post at Blenheim is a long way past the birdcage. He still had lengths to make up as he went past the birdcage. I didn’t know he’d won until the announcer said he had,” said Chris Morrison who trains Dark Ghana with his wife Shirley.

They race Dark Ghana with their daughter Kerryn and with their son John driving, it was a family affair. The win was the seven year old’s fourth in just twenty eight starts.

The gelding won impressively on the first day of the meeting, providing Chris and Shirley with their first winner as a partnership.

“She does a lot with the horses now. My legs haven’t been good for years but my back’s good now so I can still drive fast work.”

Dark Ghana qualified by nineteen lengths at Ashburton in April 2024 as a five year old.

“We gave him a couple of runs as a three year old at the workouts but we had some grief with nerves and ulcers. My legs packed up and I was on crutches so he had a year in the paddock.”

The win highlighted the good run of ageing stallion The Pres, whose accomplishments as a stallion have been well represented recently by Jimmy Carter and The Present Maker.

Dark Ghana is out of Sundon mare Thats Random. The family was developed by Bill Bagrie and has left mostly pacers.

“We sent his grandmother Suzimo to a pacing stallion (Nostradamus), and it wasn’t much good. Frank Bebbington said the mare’s a lovely trotter and we should be breeding to a trotting stallion.”

From that point the Morrisons bred two foals by Pernod Eden before breeding Dark Ghana’s mother Thats Random.

Meanwhile it’s been a great two days for the Amanda Tomlinson/Ken Ford team. They won two races on Friday with Hope For Love and Misty Blue and repeated the dose today with Hope For Love winning again and Zhutee adding to the tally.

The Jamie Gameson mare Showcase also won on both days. And Gameson won with BJ Hunnicutt on the first day.

For complete race results, click here.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink