Trainer Helen Page rarely gets too excited about a win but she was elated when her tough gelding Rudy went over the $1 million mark in prize money at Doomben.
Rudy ($2.70) had to lump 59.5kg was too strong at the finish to beat More Energy ($10) by a long neck in the Group Three Tattersall’s Cup on Saturday.
It was a just reward for Page and Rudy after the gelding had finished third in the Group One Doomben Cup and second in the Group Two O’Shea Stakes.
“In both races Rudy had no luck in both of those races and I am thrilled for the owners. It is a Queensland win – he is by a Queensland sire, out of a Queensland mare, owned in Queensland and trained in Queensland,” Page said.
“Rudy has been so consistent throughout his career in Brisbane and when we have gone to Sydney and Melbourne.”
She said Rudy had paid the price for his consistency and, despite having won only one previous race in two years, was asked to carry 59.5kg, which was the fourth-highest weight carried to win Tatts Cup since 1945.
Owner-breeder Tom Clarke, who races Rudy in partnership with his brothers David and Don, left for Britain this week to attend the Royal Ascot.
But he has long expressed the desire for Rudy to pass $1 million in prize money, which the gelding did with $18,000 to spare.
Rudy will now go for a spell with the Sydney and Melbourne spring carnivals on the radar.
