SWAN Hill jockey Harry Coffey steered the Harry Angel sired Night Flash to a seemingly impossible win on the synthetic track at Ballarat on Friday.
And just as well, because the Hayes trained two-year-old gelding was not just the odds-on favourite, he was one of the most heavily backed horses on the eight-race card.
Which never looked like winning, not even when they hit the line.
Although the photo told a slightly, very slightly, different story – officially a short half head, in reality just the hair on the horse’s nose.
The 1000m dash for the cash in the $27,000 Global Turf Plate started perfectly, with Night Flash first out of the gate before being settled one out and one back by Coffey, albeit perhaps a little wider than his backers might have preferred.
When they hit the straight, Coffey pulled the trigger and Night Flash immediately clocked on for the day shift and shot to the lead.
But in maidens, anything which can go wrong generally will, and out of nowhere the $26 bolter Better Shape Up suddenly did with just metres to go was the clear leader, forcing Coffey to do everything but pick his horse up and throw it over the line – but whatever he did worked.
Although defibrillators were being called for by some punters before the photo resuscitated their faith.
Hayes stable representative Rahis Baig credited Coffey’s ride and the horse’s determination for the win.
Then conceded they would have to work on some of Night Flash’s problems, such as wanting to lay in as soon as he started his run.
“He’s only a young, lightly raced horse so that’s something we will correct,” he said.
Coffey was also pleased to correct his own form at the same time.
“I had a bit of an ordinary day Wednesday with four seconds,” he explained.
“When Dec got up inside me just then (jockey Declan Bates on Better Shape Up) and it was close, I had my doubts about whether we had won or not – especially because of my knack of running second at the moment.
“And I have been meeting Dec in a lot of tight finishes in the past week and he has been able to get it over me – including in the Swan Hill Cup – so today was nice to get a win back on him.”
Describing the race, Coffey said Night Flash quickened up beautifully at the top of the straight after getting a nice run.
He also said the horse can be a bit fierce and still does a bit wrong.
“Then once he got cover he was in a good rhythm and he put the race to bed,” Coffey said.
“But when he hit the front, he just got a bit lost and wanted to lay in and Dec got inside me.
“Then he went again, and we got into a battle, and it was good to see him get the job done.
“So I don’t know if we were seeing the most out of our fella; I reckon he was having a little bit of a play.”
