Cusack overcomes pre-race antics to prevail in Magic Millions Ballarat 2YO Classic

Craig Newitt wasn’t too concerned when colt Cusack played up in the mounting yard before winning the Magic Millions 2YO Classic at Ballarat.

Craig Newitt urges Cusack to victory in the Magic Millions Ballarat 2YO Classic. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

Craig Newitt was lucky to be able to ride Cusack let alone get the best out of the colt late in his narrow win in the Magic Millions Ballarat 2YO Classic (1000m).

The Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young-trained Cusack was cranky in the mounting yard before the race, rearing several times before lashing out with his hind legs, narrowly missing Newitt.

“He’s really quiet at home and I was a bit surprised,” Newitt said.

“I said to the guys that if you didn’t know him, you’d be worried about getting on him.

“He tried to cow-kick me but once he set foot on the track, he was a deadset kid’s pony.”

Cusack wins at his first day at the races.

A nice performance by this colt in the @mmsnippets Ballarat 2YO Classic. pic.twitter.com/xj6FnB8lZT

— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) November 20, 2021

Cusack’s mounting yard antics could have contributed to his price easing to $10 in betting.

A wide gate also contributed to his odds but Newitt moved quickly to negate the draw by firing out Cusack to race handy to the early speed.

Cusack booked his place in the Queensland feature when he held off the determined challenge of local youngster Cover Star, who was caught wide for the entire race but stuck to her task well.

Newitt said Cusack thrived on the battle in the last 100m despite working early.

“I had to do a bit more work than I would have liked early, but he’s such a tough colt,” Newitt said.

“The more you throw at him the more he gives back.

“Every time they came to him you could feel him surging underneath.”

Craig Newitt returns to the winner’s stall with Cusack. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

The $250,000 race was run the usual left-handed way of going for the first time after previous editions were contested clockwise, the same direction as the $2m Magic Millions 2YO Classic on the Gold Coast in January.

Cusack will also compete for another massive payday in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic irrespective of whether he wins the race.

Cusack’s owners are all female, meaning the son of Not A Single Doubt is eligible for $500,000 in bonuses payable to the first four all-female-owned horses home in the Gold Coast event.

“That is certainly a lot harder but he’s basically got his ticket in the race so all being well we’ll go up there,” Busuttin said.

“It’s good to get new owners involved and I’m rapt for them.”

SUMMER AWAITS MARABI

Melbourne’s summer sprinters will face tough competition from Marabi after the unbeaten mare’s awesome return to racing in the A Grade Sheds BM70 Handicap (1100m).

Marabi took on the relatively modest Benchmark 70 grade for her first-up assignment but the five-year-old demolished her rivals to keep her unbeaten record intact after four starts.

Punters expected Marabi to win, sending her out as a $2.30 favourite, but co-trainer David Eustace admitted to a few concerns pre-race.

“To be honest we were a little bit concerned leading into the run. She had probably been slightly less explosive at home,” Maher, who trains Marabi in partnership with Ciaron Maher, said.

Eustace said connections were keen to run Marabi in the $1m Summer Sprint Series, which includes the Listed Christmas Stakes, now worth $200,000, at Caulfield on Boxing Day.

“Whether she has a run in between, we’ll see, I’d say probably not,” he said.

“We’ve got races like the Standish (Handicap) as well in the New Year.”

DUCHESS TOO CLASSY

Warrnambool mare Duchess Of Dorset will find herself in harder races in the autumn after bouncing back to winning ways in the Ritchie’s IGA Mares’ Benchmark 78 (1200m) contest.

Duchess Of Dorset took her record to four wins from six starts when the Symon Wilde-trained five-year-old justified her $1.90 quote with soft win.

Colic surgery has kept Duchess Of Dorset to a handful of starts but Wilde said her racing style made him keen to test the promising sprinter in stakes class in her next preparation.

“A listed race or a Group 3 mares race is definitely not beyond her,” Wilde said.

“And the way she races, putting herself in great positions, she’ll get her chance.

“It might be over in Adelaide, I’m not sure but she’s definitely stakes quality.”

Linda Meech was the winning rider.

Duchess Of Dorset scored an easy win at Ballarat. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

COFFEY STARTS MARRIED LIFE WITH A WIN

Newly married jockey Harry Coffey made the perfect return to the riding ranks after a short honeymoon with a win on Ocean Beyond in the Tonks Plate Handicap (1200m).

Coffey was married last weekend but returned to riding at The Valley on Friday night.

Coffey had to negotiate a tricky passage in the straight before the Daniel Bowman-trained Ocean Beyond ($5.50) defied the challenger of the $3.10 favourite to score narrowly.

Coffey has ridden Ocean Beyond in all his nine starts, producing three wins, but admitted he needed a bit of luck in the straight to get the four-year-old home, repaying the stable’s faith in him.

“We haven‘t had a lot of luck this preparation,” Coffey said.

“It hasn’t gone right and the connections and Daniel, they’ve continued to put me on.

“And when that happens you start to know that they really want you to ride the horse and then things like that happen today and it comes off.”

TYPHOON BLOWS THEM AWAY

Typhoon Harmony’s luck turned in emphatic fashion in the McKellar Mile (1600m).

Typhoon Harmony was beaten less than a length at his last two starts, including in the $500,000 Country Final at Flemington on Oaks Day, but things went his way at Ballarat.

The five-year-old sprinted impressively to score by almost four lengths, ending an unlucky run for the Peter Gelagotis camp.

“We had no luck at Geelong and we had no luck at Flemington,” stable manager Manny Gelagotis said.

“You can’t keep going that way. I think our last five or six runners in metropolitan races have run second.

“It’s got to give at some stage.”

Originally published as Cusack overcomes pre-race antics to prevail in Magic Millions Ballarat 2YO Classic