Jockey Ben Allen has been rewarded for his dedication to hard work in stripping off the weight to record his first Group 1 win.
Marabi gave the former leading apprentice his biggest victory when successful in the Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
Allen has been aboard Marabi in six of her seven wins, but none as important as Saturday’s success.
Sent out the $2.60 favourite, Marabi held off her Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained stablemate Away Game ($7.50) by a half-length with Oxley Road ($13) a further 1-½ lengths away third.
Allen said a diet of fresh vegetables and fruit combined with training twice a day saw him strip off the kilograms to ride Marabi at 54kg on Saturday.
“I pretty much cut out all the food I enjoy eating,” Allen said.
“I said to Ciaron that I would make it fine, but I still had question marks myself.
“I haven’t ridden that weight in a long time and, to be honest, after this morning’s training session I was 53.3 (kilos).
“It made me think what I was doing for my career over the past four years when I was struggling to ride 57, so I look back on that now.”
Allen said he kept an eye on the big screen and could see Away Game closing, knowing that she would be the horse to beat.
“I probably went a little bit early but she’s a mare that can sustain that gallop and I thought I’d use that to my advantage,” Allen said.
Maher said it was a fantastic result for Allen who had to get busy to strip the weight.
He said it was the loyalty of owner Greg Perry that enticed Allen to put in the hard work for the ride.
“For him to be rewarded with a Group 1 is super, he does a lot of work for the stable,” Maher said.
“Greg Perry was very staunch, he’s very loyal and actually if it was an even lighter weight he was going to let Ben ride, so congratulations to him.”
With Marabi remaining unbeaten, Maher said the pressure will continue to build as he tries to extend the winning sequence.
“It’s a good problem to have,” Maher said.
“She’s a fantastic mare and we’ll just let the dust settle, but this was the target.”
