Tough mare Dance With Her won her third country feature this preparation to give top heavyweight rider Steven Arnold his second Warrnambool Cup victory.
The mare is a renowned wet tracker but despite that she was sent out at the generous odds of $21.
She revelled in the heavy conditions, sweeping around the leaders rounding the home turn and going on to land her first black type victory.
She scored by a length from topweight Domesky ($20) with Hurdy Gurdy Man ($7) a nose away third.
Dance With Her was having her fifth run this campaign in the Listed 2350m race having won the Golden Mile (1600m) at Bendigo first-up at $71 and the Pakenham Cup (1750m) second-up.
She then ran sixth to Folding Gear in the Group Three Easter Cup (2000m) at Caulfield and 13th of 14 to Western Symbol in the Listed JRA Plate (2000m) at Randwick.
However she bounced back well on Thursday to land the richest prize in her 37-start career which has yielded 10 wins.
“When I saw her come wide and she was still on the bridle I thought she was a chance,” said trainer David Brideoake who prepares the five-year-old in partnership with David Feek at Mornington.
“I don’t know what happened in Sydney but she’s a tough mare, she’s a great mare to train and she’s got an appetite for racing you just can’t believe.”
“We were thinking about taking her to Adelaide in a week-and-a-half but the track came up like this (heavy) which it usually does (for the Warrnambool Cup) and this is such a good race.
“To win this race is fantastic.”
Arnold, who claimed the Warrnambool Cup on Majestic Avenue in 2002, was having his first race ride on Dance With Her.
“She travelled really great in the run, got into a good spot and probably got there a little bit early, but on the heavy ground I had to (do that) with her when she started taking me into it on the corner,” Arnold said.
“She’s got gate speed and put herself into a good spot and relaxed well and to her credit she dug really deep in the last 100 metres.
“She’s pretty genuine.”
Meanwhile, Racing Victoria stewards stood down jockey Jason Benbow from his two rides at Thursday’s meeting after he failed an alcohol breath test.
Benbow was suspended for 28 days, starting from midnight next Monday.
He was replaced aboard The Black Oak who was ridden by Nikita McLean in the Cup and finished 11th.
Mr O’Ceirnin was sent out the $4 favourite in the feature and finished fourth.
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