Humidor
Darryl Sherer
Darren Weir may have finally found the right horse to end his Sydney jinx after former Kiwi galloper Humidor stamped his quality all over the Gr.1 Australian Cup at Flemington.
And what a race Weir has in mind to shatter the hoodoo that has been the only low-point of an amazing career as a horse trainer.
Humidor will progress to the A$1.5 million BMW at Rosehill over 2400 metres in two weeks where he could finally land Weir's first winner in metropolitan NSW after the trainer has dominated racing in Victoria for the past three seasons.
Joining Weir's new Group One champ will be the existing star of the elite Australian races in Jameka, who raced near the pace in the Australian Cup and after beating off her fellow on-pacers and looked all over the winner with 200 metres to go, considering the way the track had raced with very few horses making ground off the inside fence.
But this didn't bother Humidor, who only came to Weir's stable last spring and who's already shaping as a weight-for-age staying star. He came the widest and ran past the entire field to record an astonishing victory.
Weir admitted his doubts began to grow as the track continued to play for on-pacers. ''It's not ideal but what do you do?'' he asked. ''The horse was in great order and we just had to ride him right and give him a chance to win.''
In doing so, Humidor multiplied his career earnings by four-and-a-half times, turning a $200,000 tally into $1.1 million.
Weir explained he gained the horse from New Zealand, when trained by Johno Benner and Holly Wynyard, after inviting the original owner to remain in half of the horse while he filled the other half of the ownership with some of his longtime owners.
As the pre-race favourite, Humidor has been the talking point of the Australian Cup for most of the week and especially in the hours leading up to the race.
Stewards, on a random stable inspection at Weir's stables on Saturday morning, found a syringe in his feed bucket but after some investigation, found it contained a digestive liquid that was supposed to be given to the horse with his night feed.
Bailey confirmed no rules had been broken. Racing.com
And what a race Weir has in mind to shatter the hoodoo that has been the only low-point of an amazing career as a horse trainer.
Humidor will progress to the A$1.5 million BMW at Rosehill over 2400 metres in two weeks where he could finally land Weir's first winner in metropolitan NSW after the trainer has dominated racing in Victoria for the past three seasons.
Joining Weir's new Group One champ will be the existing star of the elite Australian races in Jameka, who raced near the pace in the Australian Cup and after beating off her fellow on-pacers and looked all over the winner with 200 metres to go, considering the way the track had raced with very few horses making ground off the inside fence.
But this didn't bother Humidor, who only came to Weir's stable last spring and who's already shaping as a weight-for-age staying star. He came the widest and ran past the entire field to record an astonishing victory.
Weir admitted his doubts began to grow as the track continued to play for on-pacers. ''It's not ideal but what do you do?'' he asked. ''The horse was in great order and we just had to ride him right and give him a chance to win.''
In doing so, Humidor multiplied his career earnings by four-and-a-half times, turning a $200,000 tally into $1.1 million.
Weir explained he gained the horse from New Zealand, when trained by Johno Benner and Holly Wynyard, after inviting the original owner to remain in half of the horse while he filled the other half of the ownership with some of his longtime owners.
As the pre-race favourite, Humidor has been the talking point of the Australian Cup for most of the week and especially in the hours leading up to the race.
Stewards, on a random stable inspection at Weir's stables on Saturday morning, found a syringe in his feed bucket but after some investigation, found it contained a digestive liquid that was supposed to be given to the horse with his night feed.
Bailey confirmed no rules had been broken. Racing.com