With 12 rating points more than any other horse in Sunday’s Tattersall’s Gold Cup, the handicapper thought 65.5kg would be enough to bring Master Jamie back to the pack.
It wasn’t.
The Graeme Green-trained five-year-old was able to lead all of the way to win the Rockhampton feature under Les ‘Bubba’ Tilley, in what was his first start at 1600m.
2022 Tattersall’s Gold Cup Race Replay
The son of Poet’s Voice had previously won 15 races between 1050m and 1400m, but on Sunday, he proved his Rockhampton Cup credentials with a tough win over 1600m.
An emotional Green told Sky Racing post-race that his now-$695,000 earner is “just an incredible horse”.
“He’s told us for a long time now that he’s wanting a bit of ground,” Green said.
“I didn’t think he’d do it as well as he did today – he’s just an incredible horse this bloke.
“He’s got a heart as big as the great outdoors. Just marvellous. I can’t emphasise the fact enough just how brilliant he is.”
Having won the Tattersall’s Gold Cup, Master Jamie is now exempt from ballot from the Rockhampton Cup (1600m) on Saturday, July 9, which is where he will head next.
The 16-times winner is expected to carry the top weight in the Rockhampton Cup, but that will only be 61kg under new rulings.
“He’ll definitely go to the Rocky Cup, and all going well then he’ll go to Townsville after that to defend the Cleveland Bay (1400m),” the trainer said.
Filling the minor placings was the fast-finishing Sayl for Toowoomba trainer Lindsay Hatch, while Deep Breath showed plenty of grit up on speed to hang on for third for young Rockhampton trainer Nick Walsh.
Walsh is likely to have two leading chances in next month’s Rockhampton Cup, with both Deep Breath and The Fitzroy runner-up Bollente expected to line up.
Bollente was game in defeat in last year’s Rockhampton Cup also, running an unlucky third behind the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained Regal Stage.
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