Top jockey Hugh Bowman made it three straight Wagga Town Plates when he produced a fine ride to score aboard odds-on favourite News Alert.The Con Karakatsanis-trained sprinter was the class runner in Thursday's $60,000 feature over 1200m and, despite a hefty 61kg impost, his class prevailed and he beat Happy Finish by 1-1/4 lengths with Zarvista another half a length away third.Bowman, who won the race on Midnight City in 2008 and Wasted Emotions last year, positioned News Alert ($1.85) just off
Top jockey Hugh Bowman made it three straight Wagga Town Plates when he produced a fine ride to score aboard odds-on favourite News Alert.
The Con Karakatsanis-trained sprinter was the class runner in Thursday's $60,000 feature over 1200m and, despite a hefty 61kg impost, his class prevailed and he beat Happy Finish by 1-1/4 lengths with Zarvista another half a length away third.
Bowman, who won the race on Midnight City in 2008 and Wasted Emotions last year, positioned News Alert ($1.85) just off the speed on the fence with Century Serb taking up the running.
The jockey was mindful the gelding had 7kg and 8kg more than his rivals and wanted to get him to the centre of the track with clear running, but when the leader came off the fence turning for home he had no hesitation in saving ground on the rail.
News Alert drew away to win and will now head to Brisbane for another winter carnival campaign.
"He went super and it was a ten out of ten ride," Karakatsanis said.
"He was obviously the class horse of the race and he did have to lump the 61kg but he's done it very well."
The Town Plate was News Alert's first start since claiming the Listed Canterbury Stakes (1100m) on January 14 and took the five-year-old's record to eight wins and 11 placings from 26 starts.
Bowman said it was an honour to take out the feature race on the first day of the two-day Wagga Gold Cup carnival.
"I was just looking through the record books, it's a race that's been going on since the turn of last century and it's a real honour to win," Bowman said.
"Being a country boy myself it means a lot to me to come back to these country carnivals and ride, and it's been a good race to me over the past few years."
News Alert won the Listed Chief De Beers (1100m) and Group Three Healy Stakes (1200m) in Brisbane last winter, but Karakatsanis has yet to decide which races he'll target up north.
The same races are options for him again but he has also been nominated for the Group One Doomben 10,000.
Canberra-based trainer Matthew Dale set Happy Finish for the Town Plate and said the gelding ran a super race for second, but added News Alert's quality told in the end.
Meanwhile, Karakatsanis will start last year's Stradbroke winner Black Piranha in an 1100m Quality at Scone next Friday before he heads to Brisbane for the Doomben 10,000 and Stradbroke.