SATURDAY’S St Pat’s Outback Cup was a gruelling race, with the winning horse trained by connections that have been chasing the prize for four decades.
All races were meant to be run an hour early, beginning at 11am, due to extreme heat however Race 4, 5, 6 (The Cup), and 7 were delayed by around three hours due to a power outage.
But this didn’t put a damper on horse #4 Notmeanttobe, a five-year-old chestnut gelding sire that came clear of the field for an exciting end.
Notmeanttobe’s trainer Jody Thompson travelled from Kilmore for the race, which boasts a $30,000 prize for first place.
Despite Ms Thompson having a win every year over the past four years she has attended the St Pat’s Meet, this is the first time her family has won the elusive Cup; which her father has been trying to win for four decades.
“It’s great, we’ll probably go out to tea to celebrate, there’s a group of us who have come up from Kilmore,” she said.
“It’s very unique here, we love coming up,” she said.
“It’s very different here, it’s the only dirt track we’ve been to – we’re usually on grass.”
Winning jockey John Keating, from Kilmore as well, took time to take pictures with fans.
“This is only the second time I’ve been to this track, I came here in 1995 and have never been back since,” he said.
“I normally ride around our area, it just happened that Jody Thompson was coming up here today.
“I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve been back – it’s an iconic track.”
