'Fiery little girl' Ah Well wins maiden Quirindi Cup

Five-year-old mare, Ah Well, drew fond praise from trainer Peter Sinclair after her win in today's Quirindi Cup.

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With two third-place finishes in Tamworth and Walcha over the last month, Ah Well was in solid form ahead of Friday's meet.

Starting the $50,000 feature race from barrier three, she and jockey Rachael Murray got off to a slow start, and sat near last at the halfway point of the race.

But as they rounded the final corner, Ah Well weaved through the field on the inside to take a close but decisive win, which left Sinclair "really, really happy".

"One thing about her, she's always going to finish really nicely, because that's what she does," he said.

"You always know that she's going to come through, it was just a matter of if she gets there or she doesn't."

The Moree-based racing veteran did not attend the race day at Quirindi, and instead entrusted his horses to the care of stable manager Amee Hobday and apprentice Jacob Golden.

On the firm Quirindi Racecourse, it is not uncommon to see horses surge from the back of the field late to take out the win.

This trend, combined with Ah Well's tenacious nature, left Hobday unsurprised that their mare came away victorious.

"That's what she always does," Hobday told Racing NSW after the race. "She just tries her hardest every single time."

The Quirindi Cup will make a particularly nice addition to owner Les Quinn's trophy cabinet.

"He's had horses with me for 25 or 30 years ... but that's his first ever major cup win as an owner," Sinclair said.

"I know Les loves his horses and loves his racing, so he'll be tickled pink by that."

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