The Patrick Payne-prepared Dunkel has brought up a debut Group One success for hoop Billy Egan.
His riding record goes back as far as 2005 but jockey Billy Egan has finally got his first Group One trophy on the mantlepiece.
Teaming up with regular trainer Patrick Payne, Egan timed his run to perfection to take out the $500,000 South Australian Derby at Morphettville on board Dunkel ($8). The three-year-old overhauled a brave Promises Kept ($4F) by three quarters of a length, with Aberfeldie Boy ($10) a further length and a half back in third.
The son of Dundeel is building up an impressive record winning six of his eight outings to date and has now amassed over $670,000 in earnings.
After jumping on terms from gate seven, Egan thought he was going to have a perfect run in transit before the race changed complexion with a few runners taking off around them mid-race.
“When we left the straight for the first time I was like ‘this is going to be easy’,” Egan mused.
“But then we got shuffled back and we had to work our way through them.
“He’s got that killer instinct, every horse out there he wants to pass and that’s what he did.
“I wasn’t quite sure but the further we got into the straight the harder my bloke tried.”
Egan and Payne have built up a formidable partnership over the years with Racing And Sports statistics stating that they have yielded 56 winners from just 280 rides at 20%. Add a further 86 placings to that tally and they are striking at over 50% placegetters during that time.
With Payne being on course with horses engaged at Flemington, he had faith in his collaborator by letting him decide what to do in the run.
“He (Payne) just left me a voicemail and he practically left it up to me, left it an open book as he usually does,” Egan said.
“It’s not just my first Group One, it’s all of ours together.
“We’ve been a team for a long time so I’m just really happy we can enjoy it as a team, we are all involved together.”
After toiling away at his trade for such a long time, the run of outs at the highest level was not lost on Egan.
“I’ve only been a battler for a few years. I’ve run second in a few so you never know when you’re going to get your next opportunity or if there ever will be one. It’s good to get the monkey off the back.”