Reason to celebrate for White, Reynolds

THE win by Lettys Reason in Saturday night’s Club Menangle Waratah Series Final gave the Oberon combination of Wayne White and Justin Reynolds plenty of cause to celebrate.

White, who only trains a small team in the Central Tablelands, does not head into town all that often, preferring to race at nearby Bathurst, where he enjoys reasonable success.

But when Lettys Reason defied his huge odds to win his qualifying heat for the Menangle Final, it gave White confidence that his pacer had a realistic chance going into the $25,000 feature.

And 24-year-old Reynolds could not have driven the horse any better, producing a patient steer to get up in the last few strides after he had taken Lettys Reason off the arm to settle worse than midfield before making his move four-wide on the home turn.

The gelding let down with a fast sprint to claim the leaders, going on to score by two metres over Marvellous Mac, who had also won his heat at Dubbo for Wendy and Jason Turnbull.

"Wayne has this fellow flying at the moment," said Reynolds.

"I just let him float off the arm tonight as it really does seem to be the best way to drive him.

"The leaders set up a solid tempo early and when I asked him to go, he hit a flat spot for a stride or two, but then he knuckled down and got to the line strongly.

"Wayne has had a great run with the breed.

“His dam, Miss Rodriguez, was a really nice race mare and won 12 races in her career, including a Menangle series herself.

“Ironically, Jason (Turnbull), who finished second to us on Saturday night, drove Miss Rodriguez in most of her races; he and Wayne are great mates.”

Talented Hunter Valley driver Grace Panella returns to the Newcastle track this afternoon after she landed her 200th winner there on Friday night.

Panella, who has established herself as one of the state’s best young drivers, combined with trainer Stephen Kilroy to secure another important milestone in her short career when Jeffcoate was able to lead throughout and score a comfortable win.

Panella has another busy schedule at Newcastle today where she will drive in seven of the eight races programmed and it appears that Double Lines in Race 5 is her best winning chance.

• MICK DUMESNY