Hunter Maintains Magical Richmond Run

ASPIRING young trainer Andrew Hunter has made the Richmond straight track his own in recent weeks, extending his winning streak to seven courtesy of another winning double on Saturday.

In form sprinters Smart Cash and Lomax, the only two dogs in his kennel, have been flying the flag admirably for Hunter who has only been training in his own right since March.

"I always planned to start training but it probably happened a little quicker than I'd expected," Hunter said.

"Managing work full-time and training isn't easy but I get plenty of help from my mother Noelene and brother Paul during the day. It's a real family effort."

On Saturday at Richmond, Smart Cash scorched away for her fourth win on the trot in an impressive 17.61 while Lomax made it three straight wins in 17.75.

Between the duo they have now landed their last seven straight, providing Hunter with an ideal introduction to the training ranks.

"We give our dogs plenty of work up Appin so it only makes sense to transition to Richmond and they're loving it," Hunter said.

"You see a lot of dogs crash to the fence at Richmond but these two hold their line. I think that has a lot to do with the drag at Appin which they are so used to."

Lomax, a son of My Redeemer and Snow Fantasy, is closely related to gifted sprinters Wow, Xerri and Whitfield, the latter two raced by the Hunter family.

In a career highlight, Xerri, then trained by Darryl Thomas, finished second to Handsome Prince in the 2020 TAB Million Dollar Chase.

And while Lomax is bred and raced by Andrew it is a very different story for Smart Cash which has gone from strength-to-strength in recent times.

"She's really in the zone at the moment," Hunter said.

"We saw her for sale on the internet for $3500 and after watching a few of her replays decided to buy her with her breeding (Raw Ability x Cash In Motion) a big plus as well.

"She'd had a couple of trainers and was a really fussy eater. The thought was that she'd suit a smaller kennel and she's come along great.

"With the Richmond straight track out of play this week I'll probably look at taking her to Richmond on the circle.

"Getting back to Wentworth Park over the 520 metres is the goal."

While on the worse side of four and grappling injuries, Xerri is on the comeback trail for another campaign.

"He's coming back well," Hunter said.

"Hopefully he stays together and can win some Masters races."