"Strong and super".
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That's how Ellen Hennessy, the jockey riding I've Bean Tryin', described the four-year-old brown gelding following the Southern Districts Wildcard qualifying race on Friday, March 17 at the Goulburn District Race Club.
He looked down and out at one stage, but the horse managed to chase down the leading pack after the final bend to book its spot in the final of the Newhaven Park Country Championships.
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"He came around the bend well and I was pretty confident in him, but the leaders had quite a head start on us," Hennessy said.
"I was super happy with the way he toughed it out to the line."
Trainer Matthew Kelly from Canberra, who took home $76,250 in prize money, watched on with bated breath and yelled out in delight when his horse crossed the finish line a whisker ahead of To The Nines trained by Goulburn's Tash Burleigh.
Kelly described how the race panned out in his eyes and pointed out the moment he knew the race was in the bag.
"We had a good horse in the race," he said.
"He always finds a way to win, so we were hoping this would be the case again.
"We drew pretty wide in the barriers which didn't help, but he was just too good on the day.
"About 10m from the winning post, I thought I had it.
"He was running home really quickly, but had to chase down a lot of good horses, so it was never going to be a walk in the park."
Kelly said he would have a couple of quiet beers with some close friends to celebrate before turning his full focus to the final of the Newhaven Park Country Championships at Royal Randwick on April 1.
"The goal will be to get him there in one piece, as best as possible, and hopefully get first prize," he said.
This was the first time the Goulburn Race Club had held a leg of the Championships and CEO Robyn Fife said the club was thrilled to host this opportunity for many country-trained gallopers and their connections.
"It was great for Goulburn, the local trainers and our race club, further cementing industry recognition of the quality racing product Goulburn delivers," she said.
Fashions on the Field
![Fashions on the Field runners up Viviana Croker with winner Sharon Edmonds. Picture by Burney Wong. Fashions on the Field runners up Viviana Croker with winner Sharon Edmonds. Picture by Burney Wong.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/vQaZ3anPUuND9nFzbQxA35/ad04a4a0-27e4-4e7a-ba4f-93773db46149.JPG/r0_0_3872_2590_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Just like every race day, Fashions on the Field, this time hosted by Goulburn Chamber of Commerce president Darrell Weekes, took place and Sharon Edmonds was crowned the winner.
Viviana Croker was named runners up in the competition sponsored by Beks Bloomz and Sage and Dot Boutique.
There was no criteria and was low key and casual.
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