Race Images South
Shadows Cast and Son Of Maher shared in a racing rarity at Riccarton on Wednesday.
The pair were locked together at the finish of the Gr.2 Coupland’s Bakeries Mile (1600m) and the judge was unable to split the pair with a dead-heat announced.
Shadows Cast’s trainer Mark Oulaghan has enjoyed consistent success on his southern visits from Awapuni, but this result topped them all.
“I’ve won a few Winter Cups, but this would be the best race I’ve won down here,” he said.
“When I watched the race live I thought we’d run second and when I watched the replay I thought we’d won.
“He stuck at it all the way down the straight, no doubt about that.”
Shadows Cast raced outside the leader and held a strong gallop to the post while Son Of Maher raced in behind the pace and speared between runners close to home to get his share of the victory.
“He just got held up and he takes a while to get going, it cost him,” said Matthew Pitman, who trains Son Of Maher with his father Michael.
“There is the Thorndon Mile in January for him going forward, there’s some nice races still come.”
Shadows Cast had a tricky wide gate to overcome and he was smartly away under jockey Alysha Collett to be on the pace.
“It was an awkward barrier, but we were able to cross and he’s really tough this horse,” she said.
Son Of Maher’s rider Chris Johnson said he was satisfied with the outcome.
“We were having trouble getting clear of other horses, but I’m happy with the dead-heat.”
The longshot Boots ‘N’ All finished third ahead of Watch This Space and Beefeater. – NZ Racing Desk.