A BUMPER crowd at Geurie was on hand to witness Gulgong trainer Brett Thompson take home the 2015 Picnic Cup on Saturday, with Saturlina taking home the prize.
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It was a hard-fought race with the five-year-old mare edging out the Garry Lunn-trained Strong by a head to claim victory in the day's feature race.
It was a special win for Saturlina's co-owner Joe Mason, who also sponsored the race and named it The Friends and Family of the Late Bernie Wilkins 2015 Geurie Picnic Cup, after his close friend who passed away a couple of years ago.
Mason was in shock after the race and said he had sponsored the event to honour "a fabulous bloke and a great mate".
Saturlina ($8), ridden Tim Phillips, was in the hunt for victory the entire 1400m journey and despite plenty of pressure from Mitchell Korn onboard Strong, got home to win $4000 race.
"She settled well and put us in the best position to win," Phillips said after the victory.
"I was in the box seat to win. I knew she was full of running near the line."
Thompson was also pleased after the race, mainly for Mason, who has a stake in a number of the Gulgong's trainers gallopers.
"Joe asked me to get a horse right for the big day so I picked Saturlina and he is one of my best owners, he has part of nearly 20 horses in my stable so this is a richly deserved win for him," Thompson said.
It was also a day to remember for jockey Ricky Blewitt, who rode a treble of winners for the second year in a row at Geurie Picnic Race Club.
Blewitt started his day with a third onboard Bobo in the opening race of the day before claiming victory with the Ricky Watt-trained Had Your Chance ($3.20 fav.).
Had Your Chance finished half a length ahead of Cut The Tears ($7, Billy Owen) while Oracry (Mitchell Korn, $17) was a further length back in third.
Blewitt followed that up with a win in race three with Clint Lundholm's Boof's Da Marn claiming his first career win in 15 starts.
Boof's Da Marn ($2.30 fav.) proved to strong for the rest of the field over the 1400m, getting home ahead of Glenrock Moltzen (Billy Owen, $3.80) and Steel Wings ($4.40).
Blewitt then had to wait for the final race of the day to complete his hat-trick as he combined with trainer Terry Fulwood to win onboard Can't See A Thing ($3.00).
