Bendigo trainer Danny Curran will never forget his final conversation with Donna Philpot.
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Minutes before Philpot was tragically killed in a track fall during a jump out at the Bendigo Jockey Club last week, Curran thanked her for the work she’d done on his promising stayer Welcome Stryker.
“Donna rode the horse in all his track work. Everyone else had trouble with him, but not Donna,’’ Curran said this week.
“She straightened the horse out. With other riders he’d bolt and he was very difficult. Donna was a very good horsewoman and she sorted him out.
“I don’t know where we’d be with this horse if it wasn’t for Donna.”
On Friday, Welcome Stryker runs over 2400m at the first meeting at the BJC since Philpot’s passing.
While a Welcome Stryker victory wouldn’t dull the pain that Curran and the stayer’s connections have felt since the tragic fall, it would be their way of paying tribute to Philpot.
“We are all devastated losing Donna because she was such a fantastic person,’’ Curran said.
“It would be apt if Welcome Stryker could win because it would be a tribute to her and how good she was at handling horses.
“She got this horse going for us and he’s ready to run a big race. We’ll do the best we can in her honour.”
Curran said the Bendigo racing community was struggling to come to terms with Philpot’s passing.
“We are all struggling, some more than others,’’ he said.
“Donna was vibrant, had no enemies and a lot of friends. She would go out of her way to help people.
“Her loss leaves a big hole around the track.”
The final race of Friday’s meeting is the A Tribute To Donna Philpot Handicap (1000m).
