RAGE Against fought back to claim Thursday's Kelaher Instrumentation and Electrical Spring Cup (2050m) at Gunnedah.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Stirling Osland-trained gelding had led for much of the race, but was passed by 20-to-1-chance Bring The Joy approaching the turn.
However, jockey Yvette Lewis' cunning enabled Rage Against to battle back and score an eighth career win against a courageous chestnut mare.
Bring The Joy is trained at Gunnedah by Gavin Groth and looked a picture entering the race before almost pinching the feature event.
Read Also:
It also gave her a running double after winning the previous on Master Cramsie.
"He cruised along for me," Lewis said.
"[He] just kept going.
"He's happiest when you let him roll forward. He just relaxes."
Osland was delighted with his seven-year-old gelding.
"He did it hard early when [he got] caught three wide, but then Yvette let him roll forward," Osland said.
"He's just a good travelling horse and, looking back at his best form, he does best when he's down in the weights."
With Yvette Lewis' 3kg claim, he carried just 52kg.
The victory was also something of revenge for Rage Against after the gelding came up short last year.
"He finished second in this Spring Cup when it was run at Armidale last year," Osland said.
The Cup victory capped off a successful day for the region's trainers after Tamworth's Jane Clement took out the day's opening race.
Mikayla Weir helped begin the day in style by guiding Clement's House Wins to a convincing victory in race one.
Thursday's victory was the chestnut gelding's third start after a break, a return that has yielded two first-place finishes and a second.
"He's a brilliant horse and it was a really good win," Clement told Sky Racing's Thoroughbred Central.
"He's a beautiful horse. He's so gentle he could be a kid's pony and he really deserves this win."
