At the top of the straight in last year's Winter Country Classic Final the win was there for California Fox.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
He and jockey Ken Dunbar led the way in the feature event but were overhauled late on and had to settle for fourth.
Fast-forward 12 months and there was no such problem for the Allan Gibson-trained gelding.
he might have been carrying two kilograms more in the 2020 edition of the final but it mattered little as Dunbar and Californai Fox went from the hunted to the hunter.
Having sat towards the lead for much of the trip at Dubbo Turf Club on Friday, Dunbar got California Fox ($4.80 favourite) past pace-setter Dusky Damsel in the straight and then just edged out a flying Modernity ($7.50) in a fantastic finish.
"I'm very proud. He's been knocking on the door the last three or four starts and he got there today," Gibson told Sky Thoroughbred Central after the victory.
"He tries every time. Carrying a lot of weight makes it a bit hard but he scraped in today."
READ ALSO:
The win was California Fox's fourth from 22 career starts and each of the victories have come at his home track.
While he's normally a noted frontrunner, Gibson wanted some juice left in the tank given the sheer amount of strong finishers in the final.
Dunbar and California Fox got away the best of any of the finalists but Dunbar had no issue settling fourth as Dusky Damsel ($5.50) and Shehroz ($20) speared across from wide out to take the lead.
Patrick May ($14) also pressured the leaders and while a number of others peeled wide on the turn for home, California Fox had the rails run.
With 200m to go California Fox got his head in front and while Dusky Damsel faded new challengers emerged.
Petain ($19) pushed forward and Danspur ($31) wound up but it was Modernity wide out on the track who was the biggest threat.
The Rodney Northam-trained Modernity, ridden by Greg Ryan, motored home but just missed out in a photo while Danspur was close behind in third.
"We didn't want to run him in the ground and knew there would be swoopers," Gibson said.
California Fox had his first four career starts with Peter and Paul Snowden but has turned into a strong country performer for Gibson.
He has a fine partnership with Dunbar as well, the veteran hoop having ridden the gelding in each of his 18 starts for Gibson.
The final was the last on a huge 10-race card at Dubbo Turf Club on Friday and while there was no crowd the meeting delighted general manager Vince Gordon.
Gordon hopes to boost the meeting to showcase status in the coming years.
Do you want more sport from the Dubbo region? Sign up to our newsletters here:
Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
