Centralian Advocate, Friday, August 16, 2013 — 47

SPORT

Moon victory a fitting Montgomerie tributeHORSE RACING

Nick Kossatch

ALICE Springs jockey CraigMoon endured a tough and emot-ional week by winning the SimoneMontgomerie Memorial at Pion-eer Park on Sunday.

Montgomerie was tragicallykilled on Darwin Cup Day lastweek after falling off her horseRiahgrand in the Wolf Blass

Lightning Plate just 180m fromthe finish line.

It was in the same race thatMoon won on Dreaming of Nepal,which was owned by Simone’smother, Lee-anne.

Moon rode the Terry Gilletttrained Santa Maurato to firstplace in race three — SimoneMontgomerie Memorial 0-70Handicap on Sunday.

He said it was a fitting result and

a highlight in his career. Moon

dedicated his win to the young

female jockey.

‘‘I’m very proud and and itmeans a lot to me because I knewher pretty well,’’ he said.

Montgomerie’s connection withthe Northern Territory began in2009 after she moved from Ade-laide to Darwin.

Moon got to know Montgomerie

four years ago, doing track work atthe Gary Clarke stables.

‘‘She grew up with racing andher father (Peter Montgomerie) isa trainer,’’ Moon said.

Hailing from Adelaide, Moonhas been racing in Darwin andAlice Springs for the past 15 years,but mostly in the Red Centre andrides on a full-time basis.

Alice Springs Turf Club chiefexecutive Terry Hooton said that

the memorial meeting on Sundaywas well attended, a fitting tributeand a success in such an emotion-charged event.

There was a minute’s silencebefore the race as a mark ofrespect and the outpouring ofemotions and tributes was evidentthroughout the country.

Hooton added Darwin TurfClub will be holding its ownSimone Montgomerie Memorialmeeting on September 21.

Finke lures youngMOTORCYCLING

Nick Kossatch

Deven Lally and Lane Spence prepare for the Finke junior prologue on Sunday Picture: JUSTIN BRIERTY

THE Alice Springs Motor-cycle Club will be stagingthe Junior Finke Prologueon Sunday from 7.30am atthe Finke start/finish line.

Sunday’s event will con-sist of five classes; divisionone, division two, 65’s, 85-100and 125-250 on a 9km rela-tively flat track.

Scrutineering will go forhalf an hour before thedivision one and two com-mence with their demon-stration class.

Racing will start at about8.30am and finish atlunchtime.

Alice Springs MotorcycleClub President Nat Rosssaid the following classeswill run but the number ofparticipants will factor whothey will run. ‘‘Depending

on how many there are, wecan put the 65’s and 85’s intogether and then we get onto the bigger boys . . . they’rethe 15 to 16 year olds.

‘‘They’re the 125 two-strokes and the 250 four-strokes and with that, you’llsee more competition,’’ Rosssaid.

The Scope-sponsoredevent was meant to be runin May but wet weatherforced it to be cancelled.

It will give the juniorriders a chance to competeon the Finke Pro Log trackwhich is otherwise ridden bysenior riders.

Ross said young talent willbe strutting their skills ontwo wheels.

‘‘Division one and twoconsist of about 15 miniriders who will show whatthey are made of.

‘‘Talen Andrews will beout to take a place and this

young guy is an up andcoming champion in MX.

‘‘We are hoping to seeNick Turner, JacksonSmart, Jerraky Andrewspushing themselves to beplaced in the top three,’’Ross said.

Lane Spence will return toracing after a six week lay-off from a broken handwhile Jett Seymour andMatt Manual will also fea-ture in the race.

The race will present aperfect opportunity forriders who are on the vergeof transgressing from juniorto senior ranks.

‘‘This is their time to actu-ally get on the Finke track,also because they will not beable to get on the trackotherwise and it is a gooddress rehearsal,’’ Ross said.

Of those going up to sen-ior ranks next year areSeymour and Spence and

the pair are bound to ride inAustralia’s most challeng-ing desert race in 2014.

Spence cannot wait totake on the Finke track nextyear and he has had somewise guidance.

‘‘Ever since I was a kid Iwanted to ride and I amdefinitely looking forward toFinke.

‘ ‘ L a c h i e S u m m e r s ,S t e p h e n G r e e n f i e l d ,Michael Nelson and PJSabadin are my biggest in-fluences,’’ Spence said.

Weather conditions areexpected to be in the mid 20sand Ross said the track willbe fast.

She added that it will be agreat morning and she en-courages all motorsport en-thusiasts to witness motiv-ated young riders showcasetheir skills.

Time to start running festival countdownTHE Alice Springs Running Festi-val is here and we need to preparefor these last two days.

I would be doing an easy 20-30minute run today and havingtomorrow completely off.

You should feel great after therun and the resulting endorphinsreleased should help you reallylook forward to racing on Sunday.

Preparation is really 90 per centmental after all. In your run today,think about the race, tactics etc asmuch as you like.

Once your run is complete,though, put the race out of yourmind. Thinking too much about the

race will only use up nervousenergy.

The day before the race take inextra fluids, an extra litre on top ofyour normal intake.

This will ensure you are fullyhydrated come race morningwhich is absolutely essential.

If you become quite dehydratedduring the race, it is very difficult torecover from.

The night before, eat acarbohydrate-rich meal likewholemeal pasta or brown rice.Just make it an ordinary portionthough.

That night, I like to lay out myrace uniform, additional clothing,race numbers and anything else Imay need on the day.

You definitely don’t want to berushing around on the morning ofthe race trying to pack everything.

I also like to wake up at leasttwo-and-a-half hours before the

race as this gives my body plentyof time to wake up and get rid ofthat early morning sluggish feeling.

I then eat a banana and drink acoffee (ease off on the milk) abouttwo hours before the race.

This gives me the energy to startthe race and also ensures I am fullyalert and ready to go.

Arrive 20 minutes earlier thanyou think you need to and becomefamiliar with the surroundings,where you can leave your bags.

Go for a 10-minute warm-up jogto loosen your muscles along withsome strides. You are now ready torace. Good luck!

Tough Verdi bracefor Scorpions stingSOCCER

Nick Kossatch

SCORPIONS have achance to string consecu-tive wins together when ittakes on bottom-placedVerdi in round 13 of FICAat Ross Park on Sundayfrom 1.30pm.

Verdi have shown im-proved form in its past twogames and it may have keygoal scorer Wes Tohi back.

Player/coach Gio Morellihopes to focus on capitalis-ing on its now customarygood starts that have beencommon in recent matches.

The team has been letdown by all-too-familiarlapses which has cost itgames and it is somethingMorelli is trying to address.

Morelli suffered a lefthamstring strain againstCeltic last Sunday but hishopeful to take his place inthe side.

Scorpions playing coachAtesh Maharaj will beaiming for an improvedperformance.

It follows an at times‘‘untidy’’ effort against anu n d e r m a n n e d M P HVikings last week andMaharaj said gun players

Romeo Kuichlock andMichael Abraham will beunavailable.

Top side Celtic are warmfavourites to keep its win-ning momentum goingagainst the Vikings in thelate game.

The in-form Celtic will bestrengthened with the re-turn of Darryl Pettit,K y n a n B a r n e s a n dFederico Plazotta.

Celtic president DaveBrooks expects a toughmatch against an opponentthat will be eager to get outof a losing slump.

‘‘I think we’ve had threeor four wins against Vi-kings but they’ve all beenvery close and hard foughtgames so looking forward toit again,’’ Brooks said.

Asked if his team arepremiership favourites,Brooks added: ‘‘I don’tknow if we are premiershipfavourites . . . our main goalis to finish on top of theleague and then we attackthe finals after that.’’

While Vikings’ player/coach Richard Farrell waspleased with how his teambattled against the Scor-pions last week, he is hope-ful of having a full squad tochose from.

Statistics for themonth of August

Average daily max temp: 22.6Average daily min temp: 6Record highest temp: 35.2 on 22/8/2009Record lowest temp: -4.1 on 16/8/2002Average monthly rainfall: 9.2mmHighest monthly rainfall: 144.1 in 1947Rainfall this month: 0mmTotal rainfall last month: 40.2mmTotal rainfall this year: 146.2mmTotal rainfall last year: 209.4mmRecord annual rainfall: 782.5 in 1974Sunrise: 7.01am Sunset: 6.17pmOutlook issued by the Bureau of Meteorology forFriday: WindyForecast:Fri 16: 32(14) Sat 17: 23(11) Sun 18: 27(10) Mon 19:26(8)