More than 1200 racegoers were on course to see race favourite Captain Envious take out this yearâs $50,000 Murtoa Cup (2050m).
The Paul Preusker-trained gelding drifted late in betting, but ended up recording a soft win on the line carrying 60kg to victory.
Winning jockey Will Gordon said it would be a confidence-boosting victory for the son of Savabeel, who will now likely head back to town for the spring.
The Horsham-trained galloper also previously finished third in last Novemberâs Group 3 Queenâs Cup (2600m) at Flemington behind Soulcombe.
Adding another country cup to his resume, Gordon said despite the eventual result, mid-race he thought heâd stuffed up the ride.
âWe jumped from barrier two and Paulâs only instructions were stay off the fence, but thatâs exactly where we ended up,â he said.
âIt panned out for the first 600m how Iâd thought it would but then we ended up taking the run up the inside and I thought, âoh no Iâve really stuffed this upâ.
âLuckily it ended up working out okay, and heâs a nice horse who should go on with it and win a race in town again soon.â
The in-form Preusker stable recorded a double on the eight-race card, also taking out a heat of the Melbourne Cup Carnival Country Series (1600m) with classy galloper, Poison Chalice.
Poison Chalice (NZ) was ridden by Ryan Houston and won the Horsham Doors & Glass Melbourne Cup Carnival Country Series at Murtoa Racecourse on October 07, 2023 in Murtoa, Australia.
