Come Fly With Me wins Winton Cup
Jockey Lee Callaway and 7-year-old mare Come Fly With Me combined for their seventh win together in yesterday’s $25,000 Winton Cup.
Come Fly With Me won the race last year in the hands of Robert Hannam and in both victories, Come Fly With Me led.
Callaway said strong winds caused Come Fly With Me to change stride a few times in the running.
‘‘You could really feel It [wind], especially when you’re in front with no cover,’’ Callaway said.
Runner-up Stokers Rock challenged Come Fly With Me in the home straight but the latter held on by a long neck. Every time Callaway asked Come Fly With Me to dig deep, she did. ‘‘She kept finding more.’’ Come Fly With Me was one of three winners on the programme for Birchwood owner-trainer Stephen Blair-Edie, others being He Ain’t Heavy and Wild Jack.
Plans are uncertain for Come Fly With Me but she could race at the New Zealand Cup carnival in Christchurch next month.
Stokers Rock will now be turned out to avoid the firm tracks during the summer. All of his five wins have been on rainaffected ground. The Good3 track yesterday was a bit too firm for Stokers Rock. Jockey Sam Wynne said the gelding felt a little ‘‘gingerly’’ when pulling up. However, she was rapt with the way Stokers Rock stuck to his guns in the final stages.
The Woodlands training partnership of the Dennis brothers and Robert Dennis won the first three races with The Sparkle, The Lustre and Nightcap. The brothers have won three in a day several times.
Robert Dennis bought Nightcap six months ago for a group of 22 people, some first time racehorse owners. Nightcap was unplaced in two starts for Waikato trainers Graeme and Debbie Rogerson last season.