Racing
Chidiac romps away with Country Championships Final
The father and daughter training partnership of Brett and Georgie Cavanough celebrated their biggest win together as Chidiac raced away with the $1 million Country Championships Final (1400m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
Brett Cavanough has prepared more than 1100 winners during his successful career but it was obvious Chidiac's win meant so much more to the Scone-based trainer.
"I've got to try and hold it together a bit, very special today to do it with Georgie,'' Cavanough said.
"She tipped Chidiac all week, she had faith in her."
Georgie Cavanough, who only teamed up with her father earlier in the season, said Chidiac had been her stable pick for the Country Championships.
"She's been my pick all along, she didn't let us down, she's a very classy mare,'' Georgie said.
"This is great – I couldn't do it without Mum and Dad, it's all just very exciting."
Hong Kong's superstar jockey Zac Purton is the epitome of the country boy made good.
Purton grew up in Coffs Harbour and has developed into one of the world's best jockey. He makes winning Sydney feature races a habit on his forays back home, having won The Everest on Hong Kong champion Ka Ying Rising back in October.
"I was a country boy my whole childhood, so it's just great to team up with someone from there and win a race as important as this,'' Purton said.
"She travelled really well, at no stage of the race did she give me any concerns.
"She was straight into the bridle, really happy and comfortable where she was in the going.
"Coming up the rise she was travelling so well but I thought she's been here for a while, is she going to empty out, but she kept going all the way.''
Chidiac ($5.50) sprinted clear of the chasing pack half-way down the straight and held on to score by a length from Graceful Ellen ($61) who ran on strongly for second with one-and-a-half lengths to Micro Mikki ($91).
Brett Cavanough has now trained the winners of Sydney's two big races restricted to country-trained horses after It's Me won The Kosciuszko in 2020.
Cavanough said his instructions to Purton were not to go too early on Chidiac.
"Zac just took bad luck out of the equation, he made it his race,'' Purton said.
"I just said whatever you do, cuddle her for as long as you can and when you go for her, she is just sharp as.''
Chidiac, a five-year-old mare by Better Than Ready who began her career by winning a lowly Quirindi maiden, has now won six of her 11 starts and her dominant Country Championships win has given Cavanough reason to aim even higher with the talented mare.
"We might look at the Stradbroke Handicap in Brisbane ,'' he said.
Chidiac is raced by Gerry Harvey who could not let his good mate John Singleton upstage him after the latter's win in the opener with Blue Door in the Group 3 Kindergarten Stakes.
Favourite Considered ($3.60) settled midfield and moved into the race around the turn but couldn't sustain her finishing sprint and ran fifth.
"I think she has come to the end of it,'' said Matthew Dunn, trainer of Considered.
"She won her heat six weeks ago and it's a long time to keep them going. But she won six straight so she has done a wonderful job.''
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