Latin Tango might have won the Talmoi Cup at Garah on Saturday, but it was unlikely hero Port and Brandy’s bid to equal a 31-year-old record that took centre-stage at the last leg of bush racing’s Golden Triangle.
And the old gelding followed the script perfectly to wrap up a treble of bracelets when novice Joseph Craig rode the race of his life to win the Tait Toyota Helen Boland Memorial Talmoi Bracelet (1000m) by the skin of his teeth.
Port and Brandy had already won the Moree and Mallawa Bracelets – performances echoing the previous year – and was out to equal Bill’s Girl’s bracelet grand-slam from 1977, the only time the treble has been collared by one horse since Mallawa joined the circuit in 1930.
The script on Saturday had everything the screenwriters of the hit movie Seabiscuit hadn’t thought of.
There was Peter Cleal, the veteran trainer who as a jockey rode the circuit back in the 1950s; Joseph Craig, the 20-year-old rider who had never ridden a winner before; regular rider Rebeka Prest who couldn’t be aboard the gelding because of injury; and a group of owners – the Spot Racing Syndicate along with Doug Dufty – that were still feeling the effects of being denied the same treble the previous year.
Just left of centre stage were Sarah Vickerman and her father Peter Boland, who had the pleasure of watching history rewritten in a race named in honour of his late wife, Helen.
And of course there was Port and Brandy, a tough old gelding with a lot of miles in his legs, which proved once and for all that dreams do come true on a racetrack.
“It does not get any better than this,” syndicate manager Andrew Parkes beamed as Craig brought Port and Brandy back to scale.
“You can have your Melbourne Cups and Doncasters – any race you like – but it can’t get any better than this.
“What a finish,” he said.
Port and Brandy, the 6/4 second favourite, settled towards the rear of the field before steaming home to snatch a piece of picnic-racing history by a neck from Faux Pas (7/1) with even-money favourite Miss Nidan three parts of a length away third.
“The kid has ridden him a dead-set treat; it was an absolutely perfect ride,” Parkes said.
“He’s only had half-a-dozen race rides and couldn’t have judged this one any better.
“It was a great effort – we’re just rapt,” he said.
“The horse deserved the chance to do it. He almost did it last year and now he’s finally got there.”
Cleal, whose cousin Don Cleal rode Bill’s Girl to win all three bracelets in 1977, was overcome with emotion after Saturday’s soul-stirrer.
“I just don’t know what to say,” he whispered.
“He’s a great old horse. I thought it was a gutsy win with that weight and I’m happy I put the kid on.”
Craig, who only had his first ride in a race at Moree picnics seven weeks ago, had the weight – and expectations – of the world on his shoulders.
As far as baptisms of fire go, Saturday’s ride into Talmoi folklore was an absolute inferno.
“Peter asked me if I wanted to ride him, then I read in the paper about the 31-year record,” Craig said.
“I was a bit nervous, but I’m pleased the old horse did it.
“I had to work around them because I couldn’t get a run through the field. I was pretty confident I’d won,” he said.
Syndicate member Peter Weal said he was privileged to win a race named in memory of the late Helen Boland.
“It’s just a great honour for us to win this race . . . it means so much to us,” Weal said.
“Helen was one of the most beautiful ladies I’ve ever known and it’s just so sad that she’s not here. It just makes me so proud – and so happy – to be part of this celebration,” he said.
Weal also saluted Cleal, who has brought Port and Brandy from relative obscurity to Golden Triangle cult status.
“We’ve won five out of six bracelets in two years thanks to Peter Cleal,” he said. “We tried hard last year to win the three of them, and it’s just brilliant that we’ve done it this year.”
For more stories and photographs from the races see pages 6 and 20.
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff
Twitter