It was a local victory in the Group 1 Kingsford-Smith Cup (1300m), as Vega One caused an upset in the feature event at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
Guided by Jamie Kah’s terrific steer, the five-year-old found trouble early in the straight before exploding over the concluding stages to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
It was Kah’s sixth Group 1 win, passing Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne for the most Group 1 victories by a female jockey.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Tony Gollan-trained Vega One, who had a severe injury after his Stradbroke Handicap run this time last year.
Gollan said it had taken a mountain of work to get the son of Lope De Vega to the races on Saturday.
“We’ve had a torrid time with him this preparation with a few little niggles. It’s just amazing,” he said.
“I was really happy with him after his work here on Tuesday morning, but we were on a knife’s edge whether we were even going to be here this week, just little things, little miniscule things going wrong.
“This horse had a major injury last year after the Stradbroke and had a long time (off). They rehabbed him really well down there in Victoria, (he) came back and it’s been a long-range mission to get here and then into the Stradbroke with him.
“It’s just so rewarding today.”
Vega One was away well from his outside barrier and was eased back to find cover toward the rear of the field during the opening stages of the race.
Kah was weaving her way through traffic as the field turned into the straight, but there was carnage playing out in front of the eventual winner.
The gun hoop switched back to the inside and found a gap, with Vega One erupting with a huge run in the final stages to win by half a length.
It was a stable quinella for Gollan, with Jonker finishing in second place after getting the nod in a photo finish.
“I didn’t know where to look, I thought Jonker was going to hang on and I saw him behind a wall of horses and all of a sudden off he went. It’s unreal,” Gollan said.
“Jamie Kah doesn’t obviously ride up here often but jeez, I hope she comes back here a bit more often.
“She’s done a great job, there was no instructions, a bit like James on (Outback) Barbie, there’s no instructions today, just do whatever you want to do on him, just ride him how he feels.
“They got it right with her in Victoria, that’s for sure.”
Vega One has now firmed from $13 into $9.00 in futures betting for the Stradbroke Handicap, whilst his stablemate Jonker is $34 into $17 with tab.com.au.
Article from JustHorseRacing.com.au
