IT might have been the last at Terang on Sunday but as far as Swan Hill trainer Helen Burns can recall, it was a spectacular career first for her.
The first time she has had one of her horses start favourite and win.
With her ever reliable Cortain lugging a hefty 68kg (in a high weight race on a day with three jumps and three flats) all the way around the 1600m of the $27,000 Evenfall Handicap and still having the energy to run away with the race.
But only after using a fair bit of the straight to mow down the bolter Ahab, the $11 shot which had been setting the pace and then on the turn into the straight tried to cheekily steal the race itself, breaking away by three lengths and saying “catch me if you can.”
Several runners took up the challenge, including Morecoruba, Mash and Gravy and Chipilly, all determined to harpoon the leader.
And then, that bit further back, was Cortain, with the switch-hitting Will ‘Flash’ Gordon in the saddle (Gordon rides in jumps and flats).
While everyone had their eyes on Ahab, Gordon had his eyes on everyone and unleashed a withering run down the middle of the track until, with less than 200m to go, he started rolling right on by the first four, one after the other.
By the time they hit the line, Cortain and Gordon were almost a length clear, explaining the heavy backing which pushed the four-year-old gelding from being well fancied to being the only one anyone wanted to back.
Burns admits she could not wipe the smile off her face for the whole 366km home.
Her only regret – and she was getting over that pretty quickly – was she had a winner at Echuca on June 3 and she had Cortain on Sunday.
But in between, she simply could not manage a winner at her home track on any of the three days of the Swan Hill Cup carnival.
“I got a second, third and fourth from six starters, which isn’t too bad, but you always want a winner at home,” Burns said.
“Mind you, I’ve never liked having the favourite in a race because until today none of them I can remember have ever got up.
“I was pretty happy when Last Judgement got up at Echuca the other day, but this one, this one is a first, so that’s pretty special too.”
Burns said the win was even better as Cortain does not have a good record of backing up.
She said the gelding’s current prep began at the end of September but had been interrupted with a severe tooth abscess over Christmas-New Year, which took a bit of healing.
He has been given a couple of refreshers, but Burns said he thrived on the work.
“He’s a good, genuine horse, and he always tells you when he’s had enough,” Burns explained.
“He simply stops eating, and that’s when you know it is time to tip him out into the paddock for a spell.
“But until then, as long as he stays well, he will keep going around.”
Burns is not quite so confident about the immediate future of Superior Force, which also made the trip south to Terang only to finish 10th in a field of 12 – and 17 lengths adrift of the winner.
She said the six-year-old gelding she calls Eric has been with her for more than three years but is getting hard to place in competitive races in Victoria.
“He needs some weaker races, but I would have to go too far for those, and I am not really set up for that kind of regular travel,” Burns explained.
“The horse may well do better with a change of environment so we will have to think about that now as well.”
