Days like Sunday are what trainer Amy McDonald and her husband, jockey Lee Horner, get out of bed at ungodly hours for.
The couple teamed up with their star jumper Flying Agent (NZ) (Raise The Flag) to land the Crisp Steeplechase (4200m) in dominant fashion, with the ten-year-old careering away over the final stages of the race to win by seven lengths.
“You do it for the good days and this is a great day,” McDonald said.
“We haven’t been going that well with a lot of the others, they’ve been pretty basic. There’s always one that stands out from the crowd and keeps you going, and that’s him for us.”
McDonald admitted that her heart rate was ‘bloody terrible’ watching the race unfold, as it didn’t go entirely as had been anticipated.
“The plan was not to be that far back today, we thought he’d be similar to the other day at Warrnambool, but he missed the kick and Lee gave him a sensational ride, sneaking spots,” she said.
“It was fantastic.”
While it mightn’t have been an easy watch for McDonald, Horner knew he was well placed as the field raced downhill inside the final 1000m.
“He was bolting going down the hill, so I was just holding him together, I hadn’t asked him at all,” Horner said.
“I just held him until we got around the turn, the rail disappeared, he got up the inside really easy.
“I was really cautious getting over the last and he was good to the line. The track’s probably wet enough for him there today, it’s a beautiful surface, he jumped faultlessly, as he was always does.
“He’s definitely looking more like a National horse this time in than he was last time.”
Horner reinforced McDonald’s comments about the significance of the result and what Flying Agent means to the stable, while the win vindicated his decision to retain the ride on Flying Agent, rather than partner Bee Tee Junior (NZ) (Nom Du Jeu), who he’d won the 2020 Grand National Steeplechase on and who finished in sixth place.
Longtime leader Yulong Place (Galileo) finished second behind Flying Agent, while race favourite Valac (Dark Angel) struggled to see out the 4200m distance and finished third.
Flying Agent will now target the Grand National Steeplechase at Ballarat on August 28.
Bred and raised at White Robe Lodge by Brian and Lorraine Anderton, Flying Agent was sold for $24,000 at the 2014 New Zealand Bloodstock South Island Yearling Sale, where he was purchased by Dean Lawrence. Initially trained in New Zealand by Brian and Shane Anderton, for whom he won two of his 14 starts, fellow White Robe Lodge stud clients Diana Duff-Staniland and Paul Duffus also share in the ownership.
