TWO wins and two track records – members of Moree’s Our Next New Horse Syndicate celebrated their first success at the Talmoi track in fine style when Shut Eye and Pub Feed both smashed track records at Garah on Saturday.

Shut Eye, stepping back in distance after finishing fourth in the 1400m Mallawa Cup two weeks earlier, led all the way under Scone jockey Ashley Boyd to win the 1000m Black Truck and Ag-Orica Helen Boland Memorial Bracelet in race and track record time.

Shut Eye, trained at Inverell by Wayne Oakenfull, stopped the clock at 55.66 seconds, clipping more than a second off Precious Qualo’s 56.74 benchmark established 13 years ago.

Pub Feed, a maiden winner at Mallawa by a big space, also gave Boyd a soft run in front to win the 1200m Kenway and Clark-Providore Global Col Goldman Memorial Class 1 Handicap in 1:07.94 – nearly two-and-a-half seconds faster than Oakfield Baron’s 2013 record.

Shut Eye ($4.60) held off Lea Selby’s fast-finishing Invincible Faith ($8) to score by three-parts of a length, with Doug Fernando’s On Hold ($5) half-a-length away third.

Winning hoop Ashley Boyd said Shut Eye easily handled 69.5kg over the shorter trip.

“That was a good training performance by Wayne to bring Shut Eye back from 1400m to 1000m,” Boyd said.

“He got away pretty cleanly and nothing wanted to take up the lead. I was on the fit horse, back in distance, so we served it up to them and got them off the bit early.

“They pretty much couldn’t catch me. He kept a good, even tempo throughout the race, with a bit of a kick on the corner. He gave another kick at the 100m and kept them all at bay.

“He carried the weight today with no issues, and races at 1400m are probably at the top of his distance under picnic weights,” Boyd said.

“He cleaned them up – it was a good win.”

Ashley Boyd brings Shut Eye back to scale after winning the 1000m Black Truck and Ag-Orica Helen Boland Memorial Bracelet in race and track record time at Garah on Saturday.

Trainer Wayne Oakenfull said bringing Shut Eye back to 1000m under elevated picnic weights was the key.

“It was a very good win, a very strong win, and I’m pleased we dropped him back in distance,” Oakenfull said.

“I thought his last run (at Mallawa) was very good until the furlong, where he was a little bit sluggish. “I think he struggles carrying the bigger picnic weights over the longer trips. Bringing him back in distance really helped, and he showed that today.

“I knew he’d be up there. He’s got a bit of toe, this horse, and against fast horses. He goes good at home (in work) and can run a  bit of time.”

Stablemate Pub Feed, owned in partnership with Wayne Oakenfull’s wife, Jillian, was backed from $2.20 into $1.70 favouritism before  giving Boyd an armchair ride in front to score by nearly two lengths from Connie Greig’s Maybe Maureen ($2.20) and Rod Hilton’s Glitterscript ($4).

“He jumped well again, the same as he did when winning at Mallawa two weeks ago,” Boyd said.

“Leandro (Ribiero) on Maybe Maureen was going to go forward, but didn’t – so we did, and just cantered in front.

“It was a good, comfortable win, and it’s good to see him step up to the next class after winning his maiden.

“Sometimes, that can be a bit of an unknown. But he won his maiden well (at Mallawa) in good time and won well again today,” Boyd said.

The Our New Horse Syndicate, comprising Angela Adams, Jason Auld, Natalee Cook, Nicola Dillon, Noel Dillon, Michelle Gobbert, Kerrie Hine, Wayne Monckton, Gig Moses, Judy Munro, Casey O’Hara, Bill Poulos, Gus Shelton, Jimmy Stevens and Andrew Uphill, was formed in 2014 and has since won 29 races with 10 horses.

Shut Eye gave the syndicate a clean sweep of cups and bracelets at all three meetings on bush racing’s Golden Triangle – Moree, Mallawa and Talmoi – after previously winning the bush features with Fiocchi, Long Lasting and Cool Rules, all trained by Peter Sinclair at Moree.

Fiocchi won the Moree Boolooroo Cup twice (2022 and 2023), 2023 Mallawa Cup and 2022 Talmoi Cup (at Moree), with Long Lasting winning the 2015 Mallawa Bracelet and Cool Rules winning the 2016 Moree Bracelet.

Shut Eye and Pub Feed will now head to the Mungindi Cup meeting on July 4.

“Both horses will go to Mungindi and we’ll also look at the Wean picnics one week later,” Oakenfull said.

Bush racing heads to the Queensland border, with the ever-popular Mungindi Cup meeting scheduled for Saturday, July 4.

The six-race card, headlined by the $14,000 Mungindi Cup (1400m), also features a 1200m BM-50 handicap, 1000m BM-45 handicap, 1400m class 1 handicap, and two maiden plates over 1000m and 1200m.

Supporting races are each worth $12,000.

Nominations for the meeting close at 11am next Monday, June 29.