Wide gate proved no barrier for Westlawn win

“We just had to wait for a bit of luck, so I’m really happy it turned out to be a nice, clean run”

2021 Westlawn John Carlton Cup winner Raymond Spokes riding Northern Knight.

Despite drawing the outside gate, Northern Knight, ridden by Raymond Spokes ran a hard race to victory at the Westlawn John Carlton Cup (1190 metres) at Grafton Racecourse.

“It’s a good win,” Spokes said.

“My son’s done all the work on the horse so it’s also very sentimental when the family is involved.”

Mr Spokes said they weren’t expecting a win today given the wide barrier and instead had turned their focus to the Sawtell and Coffs Harbour Cups.

“We were aiming for the Sawtell Cup and the Coffs Cup, but this win puts us in good stead for the next one,” he said.

“Today, we just couldn’t have too much of a plan out there because of that outside gate,” he said.

“We just had to wait for a bit of luck, so I’m really happy it turned out to be a nice, clean run.”