Bankers Choice and Diamil have fought out the finish in the Group 3 JRA Plate with the latter getting the better of the photo on the winning post.
It was a bizarre race turned on it’s head with jockey Regan Bayliss allowing Pride Of Jenni to travel excessively, seeing her lead a whopping 15 lengths to the half-way point of the race.
When the race went on at the 600m it became a battle of attrition as Bankers Choice strolled past the leader, before Diamil came onto the scene, seeing a ding-dong battle to the line.
The John O’Shea-trained gelding was only third-up into the preparation and after running third in the Doncaster Prelude on March 25, was able to bounce into the winner’s enclosure on Saturday.
It was a race to follow moving forward with all the top four possibly looking to the Queensland winter carnival, as Diamil, Bankers Choice, Huetor and Great House all giving strong auditions for the staying features.
2023 Group 3 JRA Plate Replay – Diamil
John O’Shea spoke post-race giving credit to his stable for how well Diamil has improved into his five-year-old campaign.
“He’s been a gun little horse for us and the ground suited him today,” said O’Shea.
“Mac (James McDonald) gave him a beautiful ride. We were very wary of the second horse (Bankers Choice) because he’s a very good wet tracker as well.
“Credit to the horse and our team for preparing him and bringing him here today to get the job done.”
James McDonald spoke to his horse’s toughness to snare victory after testing conditions on Saturday.
“It was a strongly run contest and it felt like it, especially the last furlong,” said McDonald.
“It was a bit of a slogfest to the line. He dug deep our little fella, he’s had a really good preparation for that and he was obviously prepped up for that performance. It’s good to get a result.
“It was good, we had to be pretty fit both horse and rider and he slogged it out the last little bit.
“It is pretty testing work for the horses and when it was run at a solid pace like that it was always going to be a bit of a slogfest.”
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