Flying Basil wins the Casterton Cup

Flying Basil delivered a strong staying performance to take out the Casterton Cup on Sunday, giving trainer Shane Jackson a memorable victory and defying the odds under a perfectly timed ride from Will Price.

The son of Magnus camped just behind the speed as Precious Charm ($5) and Notabadbuy ($3.30) set a genuine tempo up front. As the field rounded the turn, Flying Basil ($17) peeled out three-wide and surged to the lead, holding off a fast-finishing Tikemyson, who was chasing a fifth win for trainer Symon Wilde on the card.

The win capped a successful afternoon for Jackson and the colours of owner and former trainer Jackson Pallot, who also celebrated earlier success with Highland Blaze ($1.50) over the jumps.

“He’s a beautiful horse, you’d love to have a stable full of him, he wears his heart on his sleeve,” Jackson said post-race.

“Will gave him a beautiful ride. I thought he’d probably roll to the front, but they were all pretty determined to get to that spot, the way the track is playing.

“One-out one-back, held onto him and when he produced him around the bend, he looked like he’d only just joined in.

This horse is going places. It wasn’t long ago I was ringing the handicapper to get his rating dropped to 58 so I could sneak him into a 0-58.

And here we are winning a Casterton Cup after a couple of other Cups along the way. Great result and great for the connections as well.”

Stablemate Mystery Island ($8) was sent out at shorter odds but struggled mid-race before finishing off strongly for fourth.

“Mystery Island didn’t lose anything, I thought he hit the line lovely… he’s in great nick heading towards Flemington,” Jackson added.

To bet on Flying Basil’s next start or follow Mystery Island’s progress towards Flemington, check the latest markets at Australia’s leading betting sites.