Tayne Foster might not be superstitious but after her horse She Won’t Leave won the $14,000 Deniliquin Cup on Saturday she could be forgiven for thinking she had a guardian angel.
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Foster had dedicated the race to the memory of close friend and fellow Echuca horse trainer Terry Milner, who died late last week.
She originally hadn’t even thought about entering a horse in the cup race.
“I was taking a four-year-old gelding there for one of the maidens and wanted to put another one in the float to travel with him,” Foster said.
“So I looked at the nominations and got accepted for the cup – with a good weight and then drew barrier one.”
The 1400m cup is her horse’s best distance and with apprentice jockey Madison Lloyd in the saddle her 3kg claim left She Won’t Leave to carry just 51kg.
When the field jumped Foster admitted she could not have written the script any better.
“She jumped first and quickly gathered her feet and Madison tucked her in behind the pacemakers, which is exactly what I asked her to do,” Foster said.
“As they came off the turn the front runners rolled off the fence and Madison, who was hugging the running rail, went straight through and they couldn’t catch her.
“You could not have asked for it to go any better.
“I was so happy, and happy I had dedicated it to Terry.”
Foster said the horse had been training well and had bounced back after an unlucky run at Gunbower earlier this month.
“She’s a horse that tries every time she steps out and the country cups’ distance really suits her,” she added.
The weekend win has encouraged Foster to go after another country cup, with Wycheproof in a fortnight now firmly in her sights.
Saturday’s win was only She Won’t Leave’s second start this prep after a 25-week layoff, so still has plenty of improvement and racing condition to pick up — making it unlikely punters will get the $4.40 about her again.
Saturday’s race day results:
Race 1, Maiden Handicap (1000m): Sheriff's Deputy ($4), 1st; Spinrich ($3.60), 2nd; Master Knight ($5.50), 3rd; Hello There ($6), 4th; A Real Glow ($5), 5th.
Race 2, Benchmark 50 Handicap (1200m): Keep The Magic ($18), 1st; Curragh King ($9), 2nd; Tumult ($3.60), 3rd; Yalca Boom ($6), 4th; Whiskey Business ($8), 5th.