It was a fitting result in Saturday night's Gerard Yeo Memorial as hometown hope Karloo Bradley won in a gripping edition of the annual feature event.
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With a large group of the extended Yeo family in attendance as part of a fantastic Boxing Day crowd at Dubbo Paceway, Karloo Bradley flashed home late on the extreme outside to win for trainer Barry Lew.
The race honours the memory of a well-known sportsman from a well-known family who died in the Bali bombings of 2002.
Gerard's father, Pat, spoke at the presentation post-race and said it was honour for he and the family to have this event and be able to attend each year while Lew and his wife Rhonda said the same.
The husband-and-wife team own Karloo Bradley together and Rhonda said it was exciting to be able to have the three-year-old in such a special race and added it was "lovely" to see so many family and friends of Gerard in attendance.
For Barry, it was the latest win in a distinguished racing career.
"I love winning races anywhere," he said.
"It's been a tough year and we've done it hard it's a brilliant crowd up here. It's terrific stuff."
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After suffering some bad luck last time out when finishing eighth at the Dubbo track, Karloo Bradley started a $7.50 chance with John O'Shea driving from the extreme outside of the second row on Saturday night.
O'Shea had driven the now four-year-old in his two most recent starts and settled last on Saturday, while the $1.85 favourite Longueval, trained and driven by Mat Rue, sat in front of him.
Toya Lombo ($7.50) and Dance Baby Dance ($8.50) set the pace up front and the latter was in control when the field received the bell.
But the start of the final lap was when Rue made his move, peeling around four wide and pushing forward while O'Shea quickly got on his back and also tracked towards the front.
But Longueval soon started to fade quickly and as they exited the back straight O'Shea moved past the favourite and swung into the straight firmly in contention.
Toya Lombo and Dance Baby Dance still led the way while Good Cop ($34) started a run even wider than Karloo Bradley.
Dance Baby Dance had a half-length lead but over the final stages Karloo Bradley ate into it and nabbed the win on the line, hanging on from a flying Good Cop.
"I thought he was in a bit of trouble when he was stuck wide but JT (O'Shea) drives well," Lew said.
The result made it four wins and three placings from 11 starts for Karloo Bradley and both trainer and driver said there's still further improvement in the gelding.
"He's fairly green. I brought him out from New Zealand and he hadn't had a start and he's taken a bit to get going and I've had some little issues with him but he's coming together now," Lew said.
"The end of last season he started trotting really good and I think he's continuing on.
"We'll just keep ticking over and try to get him into a Carnival of Cups race."
The victory also made it a successful night for O'Shea.
Two of his three drives on the night came in the feature events and he won both, as success with the Danny Dwyer-trained Panther Star in the Colleen O'Neill Memorial went along with his Gerard Yeo Memorial win.
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.
