A wet track at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday gave Scone speedster The Monstar the edge in winning the Group 2 $175,000 Moreton Cup (1200m).

The Monstar, above, appreciated the soft track in winning the Moreton Cup at the Sunshine Coast. Photo by Daniel Costello.

Toowoomba based jockey Skye Bogenhuber renewed her association with The Monstar and the pair combined for an all the way win in the Feature Sprint on the nine race program.

The Monstar was very much at home on the soft 6 rated Sunshine Coast track and showed plenty of determination in the run down the long straight to record his twelfth overall win and his ninth on a rain affected track.

Bogenhuber has previously combined with The Monstar for two wins during the 2016 Winter at the Sunshine Coast and at Eagle Farm and jumped at the chance to ride the Brett Cavanough wet track specialist to provide her with her first Group 2 success.

“I can’t believe it. I came here thinking he could win, but never thought it would be that easy,” Bogenhuber said.

“It’s my first ever Group ride. I’ve won a Weetwood (Miss Imagica) and Cup (Bang On) at Toowoomba, I’ve ridden in a couple of Listed races in Brisbane, but never had the opportunity to get a Group ride, let alone a good ride like that.

“Brett rang last week before nominations and said there was a possibility he would bring it up. He wanted to see if it was going to be a wet track and I just said ‘I’m in.’ I said I don’t care if he’s only a 50 per cent chance of running. I will ride him.

“Luckily it was pretty soft all week.

“I do love him. I got a good association with him at track work when Brett moved up and had a satellite stable at Toowoomba.

“He’s a quirky horse, but the more I got to know him, the more I loved him. I love how tough he is.

“He’s such a genuine horse. A lot of old horses can get a bit cunning and don’t want to do it anymore, but he’s so mad and so tough! He’s a pleasure to ride.”

The Monstar was sent out as one of the top fancies for the Moreton Cup at $5 and was able to hold on by a long neck to claim victory over the $4.20 equal favourite Platinum Angel with Calanda ($7.50) a nose away in third position.

The Darren Weir trained Handsome Thief was the other equal favourite but was always near the tail of the field before finishing seventh.

2018 Moreton Cup Results