KATHERINE CUP CONSOLATION FOR LEFOE’S STAR
DARWIN trainer Garry Lefoe Jr’s afternoon out for Broome Cup Day will be a forever memorable one after watching his eight-year-old I Am The Fox salute on a TV screen in the $25,000 Katherine Club Inc. Katherine Cup (1700m).
The star stayer (jockey Paul Shiers) triumphed by just a nose over stablemate Budget King (Stan Tsaikos). Lefoe Jr knew exactly how much of a threat Budget King, at $4.20, would be for $3.60 favourite I Am The Fox heading into the race.
“The conditions suited Budget King because he likes to roll forward early,” Lefoe Jr said.
“But I Am The Fox took off early and got to the inside which helped him, especially on a track a little chopped up by the earlier races.
“I’m at the Broome Cup, so I could only watch it on TV. It was good to watch him get a good result.”
I Am The Fox was heavily backed at $6.50 to win the Darwin Cup on August 2, but didn’t fire on the day with Lefoe Jr’s great mate and star jockey Jason Lyon aboard.
He finished in eighth – 13 lengths behind Nicole Bruggemann’s winner Highly Decorated. That was after a second-place result in the Chief Minister’s Cup on July 10.
“He gave his all during the Carnival. I don’t know what happened in the Cup, but he’s bounced back,” Lefoe Jr said. “He’ll have a spell now, then have a preparation in Victoria, then we’ll look at the same Carnival races next year.”
Other winners were La Trioli (Gary Clarke), Good Therapy (Heather Lehmann), Our Sustar (Chris Nash), Yoshi Toranaga (Lefoe Jr) and Comogli (Tayarn Halter).