There was no twenty length romp this time, but the Aaron Purcell trained Farag did enough to make it historic back-to-back wins in the Jericho Cup at Warrnambool, albeit in an extraordinary edition of the Cup with the race being shifted to the course proper at a shortened distance of 4415m late in the day after a fall in the Jericho Cup consolation race earlier had raised some concerns about the safety about the path the Jericho Cup field was originally scheduled to follow.
That was the extent of the drama though as Farag, the $2.80 race favourite, got the job done under a perfect ride from Will Gordon to score by a decisive 1.50 length margin from the $8 chance Ferago.
Trainer Aaron Purcell was quick to credit his team for the success.
“It’s a great effort by everyone involved,” said Purcell. “Kirsty at the stable does a fantastic job. Peter Groidis, one of the owners, he sourced the horse out of New Zealand and found the right horse. And obviously Will (Gordon), he gave him a ten-out-of-ten ride, so we couldn’t be happier.
“Will is a really good jockey. There is no other way to describe him. He rode him perfectly.
“The race got changed from over the hill, so we had to think about it a little bit differently and every decision Will made in that race was right.
“It’s a really hard race to win. Obviously, the race itself is hard, but then you have to qualify and all of that along the way.
“It’s definitely one of the harder races to win. To win two in a row, we’re very proud.”