Sport
12 March, 2026
Blackhill Kitty returns to form
Eight-year-old mare wins Tottenham Cup in front of big crowd
Raced at Tottenham, Saturday, March 7, 2026
Returning to form, the Connie Greig trained eight-year-old mare Blackhill Kitty won the 1400 metres Robinson Grain Tottenham Picnic Cup in front of a very big crowd after thrilling finish.
A prolific winner of Picnic Cups and twice a runner up in $50,000 Picnic Championship Finals, Blackhill Kitty had been well beaten in the recent Cups at Bedgerabong and Condobolin and started as an $8 relative outsider at Tottenham.
Recovery Road (rails), Ready For Lift Off (centre) and Bobby’s Secret (outside) shared the lead from the outset with Blackhill Kitty, Pickaxe and The Drafter having nice runs off the pace while Lord Percy was slowly away.
The Melissa Harrison, Forbes-trained Bobby’s Secret (Paul Zerafa, $3.50) in a brave performance during a torrid run edged to a narrow lead turning for home but was overhauled in the final stride and beaten a short half-head by Blackhill Kitty (Leandro Ribeiro, $8) with a length to the third-placed Pickaxe (Ashley Boyd, $4.60).
Leandro Ribeiro finished second in the opening event and this continued an uncharacteristic ‘lean’ run for the champion jockey who had ridden five seconds and a third from his previous six rides.
Muswellbrook-based Ribeiro however had his many followers cheering again when he rode the last four winners at Tottenham, all being trained at Dubbo by Connie Greig who was backing up after winning with Just On Fire at the Dubbo TAB meeting the previous day.
Formerly from Coonamble and now a successful trainer at Dubbo, Clint Lundholm won the first two races at Tottenham with Swedish Glitter and Bring The Rain.
The speedy Swedish Giltter ($3.60 favourite) with Narromine jockey Ricky Blewitt in the saddle, led all the way when winning the 800 metres Michael Logan Memorial Class Three Trophy Handicap from Box Of Crackers (Leandro Ribeiro, $3.80) and Rubicon River (Dylan Parrott, $8).
In the 1000 metres Cutcliffe Family Maiden Plate, Bring The Rain (Ashley Boyd, $2.20 equal favourite) shared the lead with the Greg O’Neill, Nyngan-trained Silent Drama (Ricky Blewitt, $2.20) before a hard-fought win by a head while Uncle Alf (Tamsin Gough, $10) wound up in third place.
Connie Greig and Leandro Ribeiro then combined to win the remaining four races, starting with Callie Cool in the 1000 metres Lloyd Jarvis Memorial Open Trophy Handicap.
The Wayne Prisk, Cobar trained Mr Pointer took the early lead with Callie Cool (Leandro Ribeiro, $1.90 favourite) having a good run before winning clearly from Mihrimah (Dylan Parrott, $6) and Mr Pointer (Tamsin Gough, $12).
Notleanormean (Leandro Ribeiro, $4) also camped behind the leaders before beating The Hoff (Zara Lewis, $19) and Himeros (Ricky Blewitt, $1.90 favourite) in the Fiveways Legal and Fiveways Hire Class Two Trophy Handicap.
Following the win in the Cup with Blackhill Kitty, Connie Greig and Leandro Ribeiro completed a big day when Kuroshinzo ($1.90 favourite) fought off a strong challenge from Pluck ‘N’ Spy (Paul Zerafa, $16) with I Alone (Ricky Blewitt, $6) third in the 1400 metres Tottenham Hotel and Combined Businesses Class B Handicap.