Mnementh set for Santa Ana Lane Sprint Series Final

Albury trainer Mitchell Beer breathed a heavy sigh of relief when Blake Shinn elected to start his suspension after the upcoming Flemington meeting.

Beer had already booked the in-form jockey to partner Mnementh in the Listed Santa Ana Lane Sprint Series Final (1200m) on Saturday and was not relishing the task of finding a replacement rider.

Shinn rode four winners at Caulfield last Saturday but also earned a 14-day suspension courtesy of a careless riding charge.

“There’s probably no-one riding better in Victoria at the moment, and I was elated and then dejected on Saturday,” Beer said.

“I saw an article come through that he had been suspended and I thought ‘this is just my luck’ but he’s not starting the suspension until after Saturday.

“He was pretty happy to accept the ride when we committed to the race a couple of weeks ago, so I’m more than happy to have him on.”

Mnementh will not have raced for six weeks since beating only two runners’ home in the Group 1 The Goodwood (1200m) at Morphettville on May 20.

That followed the gelding’s win in the Town Plate (1200m) at Wagga on May 4.

Beer said the experience of having his first Group 1 runner in Adelaide is something he will never forget.

“The worst part of the whole week was the 71 seconds of his race,” Beer said.

“We committed to go and we drew 16. He was an outsider at best, he was given a bad barrier and he just couldn’t get in.

“Under the circumstances, I thought his run was really good. We came back home, gave him a week off and he’s gone terrific since.”

Mnementh rounded off his preparation with a gallop at Wangaratta ahead of Tuesday’s jump-outs.

“I was rapt with the work,” Beer said.

“This all-weather track at Wangaratta is the absolute backbone of the North-East. For us from Albury and Corowa, if they didn’t have it, we’d be in a lot of trouble up here.

“The Club are outstanding. Even though we’re from NSW, they bend over backwards for you.”