The Euroa Cup might not be the richest one on the country cups circuit, but when it went to a local horse on Sunday its army of local owners, including trainer Dwayne Reid, were not too fussed about the prize money.
They reckoned the horse’s last-gasp win was worth every penny they had paid for the seven-year-old gelding.
And right now the current crop of owners must reckon he was a bargain – he cost just $5500 as a tried horse.
Reid has had him for seven starts now for two wins and a second after bringing him back from a 20-week spell during the change of ownership to run second at Kerang on Boxing Day
After that he had a series of starts at Caulfield, Moonee Valley and Sandown to bring down his high benchmark so he could get into some country fields.
His first race out of town was a solid win over 1400m at Bendigo late last month.
On Sunday, with Billy Egan in the saddle, he carried that form over despite coming from near last at the turn and not getting into the clear until past the 200m mark.
He had trailed all but one for most of the journey, with Egan patiently looking for a bit of daylight as they straightened for the run home.
Diving onto the fence he then threaded through the maze and set out after leaders Vegas Boulevard and Typhoon Rubi.
With 100m to go he never looked a chance, at 50m Vegas Boulevard was home, but at 5m Keymaster stuck his nose out and that was enough.
Reid said the only other hiccup, Keymaster’s back-to-back wins had boosted his benchmark back to 72.
“I’m right back where we started with him,” Reid said with a laugh.
“So I guess his next start will be somewhere in town – but he is a consistent runner there, his four starts all showed something and with a bit of luck he might have picked up one of those.
“I had an apprentice on him in town to get the weight claim, but Billy, who rides a lot for me, has been on both his wins now.
“We are describing the cup as a well-timed ride, but you know I thought Vegas Boulevard was never going to give up; even though Keymaster was well backed and we had certainly expected him to go well here.”
The only rain on the winning parade came when stewards fined Egan $500 for using his whip on eight occasions, three times more than permitted, before the 100m.
Stewards said they took into account the totality of his whip use and his good record in relation to this rule – which was better than Jack Hill, on second-placed Vegas Boulevard, who was suspended for six meetings on the same charge.
Benalla Racing Club chief executive Cameron Symes said the cup day had been a big success – perfect weather, track racing well as a good four and upgraded to a good three as the day went on and a good crowd for the entertainment on and off the track.
Symes said the cup itself was a thriller and one of the best-backed horses in the field was a popular winner too.
“It was great to see a locally-owned horse get up on the day and plenty of the owners – and there are plenty of them – were here to see it all,” he said.
“Trainer Dwayne Reid learnt his craft here before relocating and his dad is still here and works at the track four mornings a week, so you couldn’t ask for a more local success if you tried.
“The Fashions on the Field was also a popular winner as was the water slide with all the kids who came along.”
●Turn to page 12 for a selection of social photos from the Euroa Cup.
17°C