IT was two years – and one week – between drinks for Mimi’s Award and it took a masterclass from Swan Hill jockey Harry Coffey to end the drought.
Much to the delight of Lindsay Park’s Ben and JD Hayes, who gave him most of the credit for winning the $130,000 Sentrack Supports The NJT Trophy (2500m) at Flemington on Saturday.
It made it his second metro win in two weeks at headquarters, after landing a $150,000 race with Ocean’s Above on May 13.
The win was even more impressive because Coffey’s race plans went wrong from the jump.
“I spent the whole race trying to get in, we had wanted to be around midfield but (at the start) we ended up a long way back,” Coffey said.
“We finally got in after a bit of work and were able to have a little bit of a rest for a while just as the pace was starting to slacken out of it.
“Then she was starting to get a bit keen on the bridle, and I thought ‘I won’t disappoint her, and I’ll let her go’ and once we did she really trucked into it nicely.
“But I can tell you it was a hell of a long way up that straight once we got in front,” he laughs.
And he was out there a long time, having taken off on the back bend, racing around the outside of the 12-horse field and was clearly in front as they straightened for the 450m run to the post.
Coffey said the five-year-old mare demonstrated her toughness and did “a good job”.
He said after the race he told Ben Hayes and his fiancee Grace Ramage: “It wasn’t pretty, but it was very effective.”
“She had been just coasting along, and I had tried to encourage her without being too hard on her – using my feet a lot, and a lot of hands and heels, and putting the whip away until the last 100m,” he said.
“Sometimes it’s not because they don’t want to win, sometimes horses just reach a point in their lives where they peak, and get a rating where it’s hard to win, but obviously today, with the scenario that was set up, she was confident into the bridle for a long way down the straight and it worked out for her.
“If you didn’t think she liked winning, well she had a long way down that straight to get talked out of it by some – but she wasn’t.”
Post-race a jubilant Hayes could not get the grin off his face after watching his proverbial bridesmaid finally get back to the winners’ circle.
“I know it’s been two years and she hadn’t won, but she has been ultra-consistent, ran a lot of seconds and thirds and some really good races,” Hayes said.
“It’s the best we’ve had her looking for some time and it was a 10 out of 10 ride for Harry, he showed some initiative and got going, and put her in the race – and that’s what won it.”
