Luke Cartwright cashes in at Bendigo

Luke Cartwright made his mark on the metropolitan racing scene in style, collecting a Saturday double at Bendigo’s Golden Mile Raceday.

The Mornington-based apprentice broke through with his first city-class win on Heavenly Eagle in race three and quickly doubled up when guiding Manolo Bling to victory just two races later.

Although held at Bendigo, the Golden Mile Raceday carried metropolitan status as Victoria’s main meeting for the weekend, giving Cartwright his long-awaited Saturday breakthrough after a string of close finishes in recent city rides.

Remarkably, neither of the wins came on originally planned rides. He was able to jump aboard Heavenly Eagle – promoted from fourth emergency – after Otago was scratched, and later took the reins on Manolo Bling following a change in riders for Reserve Bank.

“Savoire Faire in the Yarra Valley Cup nearly got it done and so did Red Phantom last Saturday but today, the first one (Heavenly Eagle), I knew he went well but it was a bit of surprise,” he said.

“I knew this one (Manolo Bling) was definitely my best ride and with 51 (kilos), if I could skip away I knew she’d be hard to beat.

“I’m rapt, I’ve gone from not riding a city winner to riding two on Golden Mile Day.”

Cartwright’s return to racing came just a few weeks ago after recovering from injuries sustained in a fall last November that left him sidelined for more than three months.

Manolo Bling, trained by Anthony and Sam Freedman, made the most of a light weight to lead all the way and salute as the $2.90 favourite.

Meanwhile, Heavenly Eagle scored for trainer Stephen Brown, surging late to grab Waimarie after being crunched in betting from $51 into $26 with major betting sites.