Prairie Fire goes back-to-back in Adelaide for Bendigo trainer Jess Gleeson

The now seven-year-old gelding made it back-to-back wins across the border at Morphettville last Saturday with a tough benchmark 68 win over 1000m.

He did it the hard way after being inconvenienced near the 800m and being forced to steady when another horse shifted into his running line.

But jockey Ellis Wong had Prairie Fire handily placed behind the leader Mr Have A Chat entering the straight and he was able to shoot through and burst clear in the run to the post.

The win came three weeks after the son of Snitzel and Consistency delivered Gleeson her first win as a Bendigo-based trainer, also at Morphettville.

The 31-year-old admitted some surprise at Prairie Fire being able to repeat the dose, albeit she knew he would be up for the fight.

"He's tough ... and he's loving it at the moment. He knows he's won. He's certainly above himself," Gleeson said.

"To be honest, I wasn't expecting it. I thought he could run top-three. It was obviously a stronger race than his last one.

"I thought he'd run well and I knew the horse was happy, but he surprised me.

"When I saw him get into a bit of trouble, when he got that check, I thought we're in trouble here, but he carried on and pushed through and found another gear."

The win qualified Prairie Fire for the $102,250 SA Sprint Series Final (1100m) back at Morphettville on May 13.

It would be a career-best win for Gleeson, who had four city wins at Darwin to her name, before her recent good run in Adelaide.

"Hopefully I can keep him right for the next two and a bit weeks, but I know he will give it a decent crack if he runs," she said.

"It's a benchmark 82, so he will get in really well in the weights.

"It would be great for the owners (David and Rachel Cunningham)."

Gleeson is on the lookout for a new jockey, with Ellis Wong, who rode him in both Morphettville wins, returning to Hong Kong this week.

Apprenticed first to Grant Young before a transfer to Gary Searle, the 22-year-old rode 88 winners during his time in South Australia, after launching his career in February 2021.

Prairie Fire was his final winner for now on Australian soil.

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A former smart juvenile, Prairie Fire ran in both the Group 1 Blue Diamond and Golden Slipper in 2018, after being placed on debut at Group 3 level in the Chairman's Stakes (1000m) at Caulfield.

He finished fourth in the Blue Diamond for his then trainer David Hayes.

A new addition to the local training ranks, Irish-born-and-bred Gleeson arrived in Bendigo earlier this year after three years in the Northern Territory and before that, a stint in Western Australia.

She will have one runner at this Sunday's meeting at Bendigo, with the six-year-old Glock lining up in the benchmark 64 over 1000m.

Race one on the program will be the Vale Dean Holland (1400m) for two-year-old maidens, in honour of the much-loved jockey, who died in a horror race fall at Donald, last Monday.

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