Royal Jackpot Collects $100,000 Cash Bonus
- Saturday, 26 July 2014 07:29
Foreign Prince ended his three-year-old season on a high at Randwick on Saturday but the big winner in his race was fourth placegetter Royal Jackpot.
Trained in Canberra by Matt Dale, the appropriately named Royal Jackpot claimed the $100,000 bonus on offer as the first William Inglis-sold horse home in the race sponsored by the auctioneering company.
Royal Jackpot scraped into the 1400m race as the second emergency and nosed out Poetic Debate to get the prize which was more than twice what the winner earned.
"It's an unusual feeling to be cheering so hard for a horse running fourth," Dale said.
"I was keeping an eye on the other Inglis runners in the race. I knew it was close in the end, but once they put it up on the screen, I knew we got there.
"My horse had to jump a few grades today and he did that.
"He was entered for a race at Goulburn on Tuesday where he would have started a short-priced favourite, but we thought we'd have a crack at today given the circumstances."
While Dale was celebrating, Poetic Debate's trainer Jenny Graham could only ponder what might have been.
"It's distressing. I thought we had it," the Port Macquarie-based Graham said.
"But we'll be back. She has proved she's good enough to race in Sydney."
Poetic Debate came to Randwick accompanied by Adebisi whose road trip from Brisbane was broken by a stopover at Graham's stable.
Graham had an ally in the hard luck stakes in her fellow trainer and friend Desleigh Forster after Adebisi's second in the July Sprint (1150m).
The free-striding Adebisi ($6) was claimed late by Hurrara ($10) with the margin a long neck.
Taylor Marshall took 3kg off Adebisi's 59kg but Hurrara also had the services of an apprentice with Claire Nutman's claim taking him down to 53.5kg.
"Taylor rode him really well and Adebisi ran really well so it's a bit unfortunate," Forster said.
"He is a hard horse to place now because of the weights he gets but we'll be back and find something for him."
July Sprint favourite Casual Choice ($1.90) ran fourth with his trainer Joe Pride again critical of the decision to run Saturday's meeting on the Kensington track rather than the course proper.
