Darwin trainer Garry Lefoe Jr wins Alice Springs Cup on his first attempt with I Am The Fox, with another great Jason Lyon ride

DARWIN trainer Garry Lefoe Jr proudly calls Alice Springs “my second home”. And there is no doubt he will be treated like a hometown hero when he celebrates his 2021 Alice Springs Cup triumph over the next few days.

Connections of I Am The Fox after winning the 2021 Alice Springs Cup. Picture: Nikki Westover

DARWIN trainer Garry Lefoe Jr proudly calls Alice Springs “my second home”.

And there is no doubt he will be treated like a hometown hero when he celebrates his 2021 Alice Springs Cup triumph over the next few days.

Lefoe Jr’s seven-year-old I Am The Fox stunned plenty of punters but not his connections after taking the $110,000 race that stops the Red Centre over 2000m by a length.

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One of the pre-race favourites, Gary Clarke’s Paghman (jockey Jarrod Todd) finished second.

“I couldn’t be more happy,” Lefoe Jr told the NT News.

“Alice Springs is like a second home to me and this was my first ever runner in the Cup.”

Lefoe Jr rated it one of the best wins of his training career.

“It’s definitely right up there,” he said.

“It’s up there with my Palmerston Sprint, Derby and Guineas in Darwin victories.

“It’ll be a pretty hectic couple of days celebrating before we come back up to Darwin.”

Triumphant trainer Garry Lefoe Jr after winning the 2021 Alice Springs Cup with I Am The Fox. Picture: Nikki Westover

Lefoe Jr and winning jockey Jason Lyon are great mates, making the win even more special. Both were confident coming into this race, and both had their eyes on winning this prize months out from the annual Red Centre classic.

“I knew he’d be very competitive in this race,” Lefoe Jr told the NT News after he won the $40,000 Shenannigans St Patrick’s Day Cup (1600m) at Fannie Bay in March.

“He won the Hanging Rock Cup (over 1850m in Kyneton on January 26) and he got a very competitive fifth in Moonee Valley in his last start.”

Lyon echoed those comments.

Trainer Garry Lefoe and jockey Jason Lyon after winning the 2021 Alice Springs Cup with I Am The Fox. Picture: Nikki Westover

“The horse is set for the Alice Springs Cup and he’s right on track for that,” Lyon said before winning the $25,000 Carnival Tickets on Sale Now Handicap (1600m) in Darwin on March 26.

With two Fannie Bay feature wins from two starts going into yesterday, that confidence among the Lefoe camp had not wavered.

That was despite plenty of pre-race talk focusing on favourites Paghman ($3.60) and Michael Hickmott’s Lord Bouzeron ($3.30, who finished fifth with Cory Parish aboard).

Delighted jockey Jason Lyon after winning the 2021 Alice Springs Cup on I Am The Fox. Picture: Nikki Westover

“We were super confident. The horse travelled very well down to Alice Springs,” Lefoe Jr said.

“Now we’ll have a throw at the stumps with him for the Darwin Cup.

“Grassy (Lyon) will enjoy the celebrations, and rightfully so.

“He’s mates with all the owners. He rode a great race.

“He started back behind the leaders for 800m and picked up the pace when he needed to.”

And that was similar to the way Lyon ride him to victory in the St Patrick’s Day Cup. Lyon now has an impressive six wins on I Am The Fox.