Irish jockey Robbie Downey rode his first winner in Australia when he brought an 11-year-old local galloper home with a withering burst at the Woodend Cup race meeting at Kyneton on Saturday.
Unplaced at his previous three outings on the picnic circuit, the George Osborne-trained Kazoom came from well back in the 1850m L. and G. Sheppard & Sons 0-58 Handicap.
Leader Pride of Kinross looked certain to win comfortably, but Downey found an opening and Kazoom got up in the very last stride to win at long odds ($41.20 on the TAB), much to the delight of some punters who regularly support local runners at Kyneton.
Osborne and Alex Babauskis are joint owners, with Kazoom winning his 13th race from 92 starts, and taking earnings to $240,255.
Downey was thrilled to ‘break his duck’ at his ninth ride in Australia since January 23.
He aims to establish himself in the racing industry and realises a strong work ethic is necessary to obtain regular rides.
For Downey, who comes from Kilcock in County Meath, Australia offers a new opportunity.
He began by riding in pony races at the age of 16, and went on to outride his apprentice claim in thoroughbred races at an early age. He regards his win on Kazoom as another step in the right direction, and hopes to be able to ride at Kyneton again.
Downey has ridden in Ireland, the UK, France and India, and has already built up contacts with Flemington-based trainers in recent weeks.
Woodend Cup to The Nephew
The $30,000 bet365 Woodend Cup over 1850m was won by odds-on favourite The Nephew, trained by Paddy Payne and ridden by Daniel Stackhouse.
Stackhouse bided his time in the run on the lightly raced four-year-old, and overhauled Diplomac Jack to win by a length, with Quarterback Zac well back in third place.
Apart from The Cup, the other eight races drew sizeable fields, with racing on a track rated as a Soft 5.
Peter Moody landed an early training double taking out maiden events with Scampton and Savileo, both ridden by Jason Benbow.
Two in a row for Boho Miss
Kyneton trainer Mick Sell and a large group of owners were pleased to see Boho Miss show her recent victory at Benalla was a prelude to further improvement.
Ridden well by Stackhouse, Boho Miss was able to edge out favourite Big Daryl by 0.2 lengths in the Bobby Beare Memorial over 1450m.
The four-year-old mare has also been placed at Kyneton on several occasions.
