The five-hour trip from Gunnedah to Rosehill was worth it for Gavin Groth.
The trainer brought About Time with him and the five-year-old gelding led all the way to give him his first city winner in the Highway Plate (1500m) on Saturday.
The horse – strapped by Groth, owned by his wife Fiona and ridden by country jockey Anthony Cavallo – scored an upset win at the odds of $31.
“There’s a lot of work gone into this horse,” Groth said.
“He does a lot wrong and it’s great to win one.”
Akiko Gold ($6.50) was a short neck away in second, with Grand Rouge ($7.50) a further long head away third.
The well-travelled Cavallo, who won on About Time at his last start on his home track at Gunnedah, said he had the choice of riding at Rosehill or Coonabarabran where six $8000 races were programmed for Saturday.
“Gav’s a really good fella,” Cavallo said.
“You win on one of his, he sticks with you.”
Groth has long held ambitions of running About Time, one of 18 horses in his stable, in a Highway race.
The trainer said he would reserve a decision on whether the horse would now be spelled.
“I’ve been going to put him in the paddock for a long time now but he just keeps stepping up and doing the right thing,” Groth said.
“He likes to race fresh so we’ll just see how he goes when we get him home and go from there.”
About Time is the season’s final winner of the $40,000 Highway races for country-trained horses, which will be worth $60,000 from next Saturday.
