Saint Emilion on his way to winning the Group Three Coca-Cola Canterbury Gold Cup. Photo – Race Images South.
Cambridge-trained Saint Emilion showed his determination and inner strength when he took out the Group Three Coca-Cola Canterbury Gold Cup (2000m) at Riccarton last Saturday.
The Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained gelding, Saint Emilion, was thought to be beaten early in the home run, when Who Dares Win took off leaving him in second place.
At the 50-metre mark, Jockey Lisa Allpress and the son of Mastercraftsman dug in to find another gear and fought home to finish the $100,000 feature in a nail-biting photo finish.
Jockey Sam Wynne who was partnered with Who Dares Win, thought she had won when she rose her whip in celebration after the post, but she looked across at Allpress and the doubt had set in and she did not know who had won.
“I just sat there,” Allpress said. “I didn’t think I’d got there.”
However, the photo-finish went to Saint Emilion by a nose, giving the six-year-old grey battler win number 14 of his career, which includes a Group One success in the Bonecrusher NZ Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie.
