Trainer Ben Currie wins Toowoomba Cup with Honey Toast

BEN Currie thought it was almost too good to be true. Everything had gone to plan with his Toowoomba Cup plot and the young trainer was waiting for something to go wrong. It never did.

Sweet delight after cup plan comes off

BEN Currie thought it was almost too good to be true.

Everything had gone exactly to plan with his Toowoomba Cup plot and the talented young trainer was waiting for something to go wrong.

It never did. Under a confident Jim Byrne ride, Honey Toast franked his ranking as one of the state’s most promising stayers with a dominant win on Saturday.

“It’s right up there with one of my best moments in racing. To win your hometown cup is something you always want to do,” Currie said.

“I didn’t really feel the pressure. You wouldn’t have traded him for anything in the race and as a trainer, you want to have the pressure of having the best horse in the race.

“I had done everything I could, then we got the good barrier and everything fell into place.”

Byrne said “apart from a bit of turmoil at the 700m” the race panned out just as he had hoped.

When Nissile whipped around the field coming to the corner, Byrne didn’t risk being boxed in and made his move, hitting the front before the run to home.

“When you know you’re on the best stayer in the field you may as well make them work,” Byrne said.

Honey Toast was viewed as a “put in, take out” proposition by most rank and file punters. UBET reported that 70 per cent of their fixed odds hold on the race was for Honey Toast.

“It was an awful result for us. He was the go of the day in Queensland and the only runner they wanted,” UBET’s Nick Curry said.

Trainer Ben Currie and Clare Farrow with Toowoomba Cup winner Honey Toast. Picture: Grant Peters

The son of Redoute’s Choice is now unbeaten in four starts over 2000m or further and Currie intends to set him for the Ipswich Cup, with the Brisbane Cup also a possibility.

Honey Toast’s success capped a big start to the day for punters, who launched into earlier winners Sarisara and Brooklyn Storm.

Trainer Rex Lipp said he would have happily started Sarisara in the Weetwood had she secured a start but this was a nice “consolation” prize.

Brooklyn Storm began like a gazelle and then made his 1050m course record-breaking win a procession.

“He’s pretty quick,” jockey Jeff Lloyd said. “It was lucky they held up the start for a while. He took a long time to settle in there. But he jumped two lengths in front and was very impressive.”

Originally published as Trainer Ben Currie wins Toowoomba Cup with Honey Toast