The south coast father-son training team of Robert and Luke Price celebrated their biggest success to date at Randwick last Saturday when Jamaea, ridden by Tommy Berry, took out the $1 million Group 2 Percy Sykes Stakes (1200m).
The filly settled towards the rear of the field before charging home late to grab Crystal Bound just before the post to score by a long neck.
“I haven’t had a bet for three years but I had a bet today — I couldn’t see her getting beaten,” Robert Price said.
“From day one she’s always shown us good ability. She’s a natural two-year-old and can reel off a sectional.
“It’s a real credit to Luke as he rides this filly every day and also to young Brock (jockey Brock Ryan), who’s home with a broken leg. He’s been heavily involved and it’s disappointing he couldn’t be on her today.”
Berry praised the Price team for their decision to bypass the Golden Slipper and wait for the Percy Sykes.
“I rode her a week before the Slipper and she was very hot and above herself,” he said. “It showed she was looking for a bit of a let-up.
“Full credit to the team. They decided to wait and give her a little break.”
Jamaea, who started at $17 in Saturday’s nine-horse field, has now had five starts for two wins, two seconds and $770,490 in prizemoney.
Trained to the minute
Newcastle trainer Kris Lees claimed his third Provincial Championships Final when Cristal Breeze ($6.50) took out last Saturday’s edition of the series under Hugh Bowman.
The five-year-old import had been beaten in the Newcastle qualifier by Pandano, who started a $2.35 favourite on Saturday, but was able to turn the tables, finishing powerfully from midfield to reel him in and score by a half-neck, with Livinginthefastlane third.
“We brought him up really slowly and it was great he could produce on the day. He’s a genuine Saturday horse,” said Lees.
For his part, Bowman was full of praise for the stable’s approach with Cristal Breeze.
“This horse has been prepped for the race and he obviously qualified nice and early (February 27) so Kris was able to prepare him to peak on the day and that was exactly what happened.
“Our confidence was dented a little with the barrier (13) but fortunately with a nice genuine pace, I found myself with a nice run midfield,” Bowman added.
Third cup for Cahill
 The Gary White-trained Brown Thomas ($3.90 favourite) careered away from his rivals to win last Friday’s $75,000 Orange Gold Cup (2100m) by 4¼ lengths from Lord Tropicana, giving jockey Mathew Cahill his third win in the race.
Earlier, in the $50,000 benchmark 58 showcase over 1600 metres, the Rob Potter-trained mare More Shots ($7) completed a hat-trick with a comfortable win over Ben Shoof and Ocean Hero. Brendan Ward was the rider
Punters finished on a high in the $35,000 Cup Day Sprint (1000m) when $4 favourite Prairie Fire, trained by Danny Williams, finished hard down the centre of the track to beat King’s Champ by a half-length with Our Dasha third.
“My confidence just kept growing with the horse through the race. He was perhaps the class horse in the race — we just needed a bit of luck,” said winning jockey Blaike McDougall.
Jeff Penza took the riding honours at Orange with a winning treble.
Saturday’s 1600-metre Leeton Cup went to Namarari ($6), trained at Wangaratta by Andrew Dale and ridden by Billy Owen, while up north the Warialda Cup meeting was abandoned due to the state of the track.
Castle too classy
The Dabernig/Hayes partnership of Lindsay Park don’t send horses all the way to Wagga for nothing, a fact punters acknowledged on Sunday when they sent out Huntly Castle a $1.90 favourite for the feature Murrumbidgee Cup (1800m).
Ridden by Blaike McDougall, the four-year-old finished hard along the rails after being well back at the 600-metre mark to hit the front inside the final 100 metres and win drawing away by half a length from Champagne Vega with All But Gone third.
Earlier, in a thrilling finish to the 1400-metre Guineas Prelude, the Tony Sergi-trained Island Bay Boy ($4.60) dead-heated with the Joseph/Jones training team’s One Aye ($7). Kayla Nisbet and Tyler Schiller were the riders.
In another exciting finish, the Geoff Duryea-trained mare Magnavale ($4.60), ridden by Hanna Williams, won the $40,000 Town Plate Prelude by a half-neck from Forever Newyork with Sneak Preview a short half-head away in third.
There’s an idea
With the Provincial and Country Championships Finals now over for another year, it could be worth Racing NSW giving thought to a suggestion made recently by Sky Racing caller Anthony Manton.
Manton suggested that following the two finals a Country-Provincial Cup could be run over 1600 metres, featuring the top eight placegetters from each of the finals, at Randwick on All-Aged Stakes day.
Such a race, if it carried the same prizemoney as the two finals ($500,000), would almost certainly attract plenty of interest among owners and trainers as well as punters.
Provincial runners might be at a disadvantage given they would be backing up off seven days but it will be interesting to see if Racing NSW follows up on the suggestion.
Coming attractions
Friday sees the Tamworth Race Club conduct its annual showcase meeting, with $505,000 in prizemoney on offer and full form starting on page 51 of this edition.
The feature race of the day is the $200,000, Great Northern Tamworth Showcase Cup (1400m).
Saturday is cup day at Merriwa, where the main event is over 1350 metres, and at the Tomingley picnics (1500m).
Sunday being Anzac Day, there’ll be six race meetings around the state, at Bathurst, Kempsey, Murwillumbah, Armidale, Deniliquin and Nyngan.
Features include the Anzac Day Cup (1600m) at Deniliquin, the Nyngan Cup (1400m), the Diggers Cup (1250m) at Kempsey and the Soldier’s Saddle (1400m) at Bathurst.