World-class jockey Glen Boss has completed a Group 1 double at Royal Randwick by taking out the 2020 Sydney Cup (3200m) aboard double-digit roughie Etah James.
After saluting aboard the favourite Colette in the Australian Oaks, Boss rode the New Zealand import superbly to cause a boilover at long odds. The seven-year-old Raise The Flag mare was a $15.00 chance in betting at Ladbrokes.com.au, but raced every bit like a Group 1 winner to hold off The Chosen One and Raheen House in a nail-biting finish down the straight.
Etah James had been freshened ahead of the race after running fourth in the Auckland Cup last month. Her last win came in the Listed Pakenham Cup back in December, but as the only horse resuming over the 3200m, she did hold a slight advantage over the rest of the field on Saturday.
“When I saw that most of them were off the bridle and chasing at the 600m and I was coming up underneath and I thought I’m going to run very well. I tell you what that last sort of 400m felt like an eternity because we were going so slow,” Boss said of the ride.
“It’s not like a wet track where they go in and out. The ground is grabbing them a bit and it’s very testing for them. It’s very very slow. It’s nice to be here with a good book of rides and get the job done.”
Several of the top hopefuls failed to see out the trip on Saturday with the favourite Young Rascal finishing towards the back of the field. Mustajeer also struggled in the late goings on the heavy track, which left Boss, who won the Sydney Cup way back in 2004 on Makybe Diva, plenty of room to work with coming down the middle.
“I was pretty confident coming around the turn that she was going to be right in it, her work has been very good leading into this and it’s just great for Terry Reid and the owner’s Mark Lupton and she’s now a Group 1 winner,” Ciaron Maher and David Eustace representative Annabel Neasham said.
Complete Sydney Cup results 2020 can be viewed below.
2020 Sydney Cup Results
Place | # | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Barrier | Weight | SP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 10 | ETAH JAMES (NZ) | Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | Glen Boss | – | 8 | 51kg (cd 51.5kg) | $14 |
2 | 6 | THE CHOSEN ONE (NZ) | Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman | Kerrin McEvoy | 0.2L | 5 | 53.5kg | $18 |
3 | 4 | RAHEEN HOUSE (IRE) | Kris Lees | Brenton Avdulla | 0.7L | 2 | 54kg | $6 |
4 | 11 | SWEET THOMAS (GER) | Matthew Smith | Ms Rachel King | 3.2L | 10 | 51kg | $31 |
5 | 1 | MUSTAJEER (GB) | Kris Lees | Nash Rawiller | 4L | 3 | 57.5kg | $5.50 |
6 | 9 | ANGEL OF TRUTH | Gwenda Markwell | Sam Clipperton | 4.3L | 12 | 52.5kg (cd 53.5kg) | $11 |
7 | 2 | YOUNG RASCAL (FR) | William Haggas | Tom Marquand | 6.2L | 9 | 56kg | $2.90F |
8 | 5 | GALLIC CHIEFTAIN (FR) | Archie Alexander | Jason Collett | 18.1L | 6 | 53.5kg | $18 |
9 | 8 | YOGI (NZ) | Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | Jean Van Overmeire (a) | 18.3L | 1 | 52.5kg | $21 |
10 | 12 | SAUNTER BOY (FR) | Kris Lees | Jay Ford | 26.6L | 4 | 51kg | $101 |
11 | 3 | HUSH WRITER (JPN) | Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | Tim Clark | 59.4L | 7 | 54.5kg | $26 |
12 | 7 | AZURO (FR) | Ciaron Maher & David Eustace | Glyn Schofield | 66.5L | 11 | 53kg (cd 53.5kg) | $18 |
– | 13 | CORNCRAKE (GB) | Matthew Smith | Ms Kathy O’Hara | – | 0 | – | – |