It was a thrilling finish to the 2023 Coonamble Cannonball (1100m), and the result went to local product and Wyong trainer Damien Lane.
Venturing back home with a team of six gallopers, Lane conceded it hadn’t been his day up until the Cannonball, but misery quickly turned to joy when he watched Madeline Owen flashing late on Safado in the $35,000 feature sprint.
It was an exciting affair, and there was a real charge for the lead before the Clint Lundholm-trained Beauchamp took up the running.
Despite his early work, Beauchamp was game to the line, finishing fourth and was beaten only 1.18 lengths in a blanket finish.
Safado, on the other hand, sat at the rear of the fiend smoking his pipe before finishing strongly down the outside, edging the Bryan Dixon Jnr-trained Ecker Road by 0.43 of a length while in a somewhat unlucky third placing, the Stephen Jones-trained Toro Toro was beaten only 0.52 of a length.
Lane put all the praise back on Owen, who provided Safado with an inch-perfect ride.
“It was a bit tight for a run there early in the straight,” Lane said.
“To Maddy’s credit, we haven’t had much luck today, but I don’t think she’s done a lot wrong, and I just said, ‘Don’t panic, he’s got a good, sharp 200m sprint, and don’t go early’, and she definitely listened, and she left it to the last minute, and he hit the line good.”
The Wyong trainer was arguably most pleased for loyal owner Pete Colley, who backed Lane to get the job done with the former Kris Lees-trained galloper.
“It’s a great result for Pete Colley; he’s a great owner and supporter of ours,” Lane said.
“He’s been involved in this horse throughout its whole career, and when all the other owners decided to move it on, he bought all the others out and gave him a chance with me.
“We’ve had plenty of placings with him, but we haven’t been able to get him over the line, and I said to Pete, ‘1100m is his trip, and in the bush where they really run along’, and it’s just good to win it for him, and to get the main race is good.”