The ‘Carleen quaddie’
Pakenham-based jockey Carleen Hefel is coming off a red-letter week.
She single-handedly rode all four legs of the quaddie at Ballarat last Friday – all for Pakenham-based trainers.
Three of the four are in the care of the training combination of Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman – Street Lark, Queen Amanjena and Go Left.
The other, Ellicazam, is in the care of her great supporter and mentor Julien Welsh.
When Go Left crossed the line in the final race, caller Adam Crettenden said “it’s the Carleen quaddie”.
Interviewed after the race, Hefel said it was the first time she had ridden four winners at a meeting, let alone all legs of the quaddie.
Boom gates gone
The Pakenham and Cranbourne Lines are now officially boom gate-free in the lead up to the Metro Tunnel opening in just over a month.
Level crossings used to dot the two busiest rail line in Melbourne, but all had to be removed before the Metro Tunnel opens because the new schedule will have trains running so frequently that any former boom gate would effectively be permanently down.
The Metro Tunnel will create a new rail corridor between Sunbury and Pakenham, with the lines being diverted from the old rail loop to the five new stations through the city.
The $13 billion project is set to open in early December with the “Big Switch,” where the new timetable will be implemented, to occur in February 2026.
