Last Saturday January 30 eight-year-old Cincinnati Kid claimed a close victory, his first Group 1 final win after nine attempts, in the highlight harness event of the night the $125 000 Group 1 PETstock Ballarat Cup (2710m) at Bray Raceway.
Going out at generous odds of $12.70, the winning In The Pocket colt beat home the warm favourite, Mr Feelgood ($3.20) by 1.2m with Karloo Mick ($5.40) finishing just a neck back in third.
It was a gallant run for the highly fancied Mr Feelgood as he worked hard to overcome his wide draw.
Pacesetter and eventual fourth placegetter, the Geoff Webster-trained Mister Zion, showed great gate speed and led most the way. Still in the lead at the bell by over a meter, Mister Zion driven by Luke McCarthy put in a fantastic effort on the home straight but tiered in the final metres with New South Wales pacer Karloo Mick close on his heels.
Driven by trainer Mark Peace, Cincinnati Kid then got the run on the inside after sitting off the speed and behind the leaders in the early stages, to hit the lead and take home his first Group 1 victory and maiden Barastoc Grand Circuit win.
Cincinnati Kid ran a sharp mile rate of 1:59.8 after a blistering 27.8s final quarter.
Karloo Mick’s driver Greg Bennet lodged a small protest against Anthony Butt, the reinsman behind Mr. Feelgood, over suspected interference in the final few metres, but the protest was upheld.
It was Mark Peace’s second Ballarat Cup following his success back in 1994 with Dark Paul.
The win was Cincinnati Kid’s 22nd victory from a prolific 98-race career and the $80 000 first prize boosted his total prizemoney earned to $406 595.
2010 Ballarat Pacing Cup Results:
Placing |
Horse |
Prizemoney |
Row & Br. |
Trainer |
Driver |
Margin (m) |
| 1 |
CINCINNATI KID (NZ) |
$80 831 | Sr1 | M Peace | M Peace | - |
| 2 |
MR FEELGOOD (US) |
$17 962 | Sr4 | T G Butt | A M Butt | 1.20 |
| 3 |
KARLOO MICK |
$11 975 | Sr5 | B J Lew | G W Bennett | Neck |
| 4 |
MISTER ZION |
$5 988 | Fr1 | G F Webster | L A McCarthy | 2.50 |
| 5 |
SAMMY MAGUIRE (NZ) |
$2 994 | Fr3 | G A Lang | G Lang | 5.20 |
| 6 |
TEAR IT ALL AWAY |
$750 | Fr5 | G F Webster | C T Demmler | 6.60 |
| 7 |
MISTER SWINGER |
$750 | Sr3 | G F Webster | G F Webster | 10.40 |
| 8 |
TI VOGLIOBENE |
$750 | Sr2 | G R Norman | G R Sugars | 12.90 |
| 9 |
BE GOOD JOHNNY |
$750 | Fr7 | J P McCarthy | J P McCarthy | 13.00 |
| 10 |
BROADWAY PLAY |
$750 | Fr4 | S R McLean | C A Alford | 16.90 |
| 11 |
OUR MALABAR (NZ) |
$750 | Fr2 | L J Justice | L J Justice | 18.40 |
| 12 |
OUR AWESOME ARMBRO (NZ) |
$750 | Fr6 | G C Small | D J Butcher | 30.50 |
