Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.
JIM Cassidy spent Easter Monday at home watching Doncaster-Derby Day on television. He did not have a single ride at the meeting. The phone had stopped ringing.
But many times throughout his celebrated riding career, the critics have had Cassidy down for the count.
He gets up every time — and he did so again on racing's biggest stage at Royal Randwick.
Cassidy was at his superlative best as he drove Grand Marshall to a last-stride win in the Group 1 $1.6 million Sydney Cup (3200m).
Jim Cassidy returns on Grand Marshal. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images
Remarkably this was his first ride at The Championships. This is the same Jim Cassidy that is in the Hall of Fame, a Grand Slam winner, and rider of 103 career Group 1 winners.
You could tell this Sydney Cup win meant a lot to the 52-year-old who is still fitter than men half his age — and no one rides better than Cassidy when he has his eye in.
"I've been down and out before but I always keep fighting back,'' Cassidy told The Sunday Telegraph.
"You can't ride winners if you don't get the opportunities. No one was ringing me for rides.
"But my good friend, Malcolm Ayoub, rang me earlier this morning and he said 'Pump' we have been through worse than this.
"So, I wanted to show everyone I've still got it — and I think I did that.''
This was arguably the most popular win of The Championships, indeed the Sydney autumn carnival, by either horse, trainer or jockey.
The huge Randwick crowd of 23,791 showed their appreciation with generous applause for Cassidy even though Grand Marshal was a $41 outsider.
In a thrilling finish, the Chris Waller-trained Grand Marshall finished hard to run down stablemate Who Shot Thebarman ($8.50) to win by a half head with Like A Carousel ($151) six lengths away third.
Favourite Hartnell )($1.65) led in a slowly run Sydney Cup but was under pressure on the turn and laboured for fourth. Stewards later reported he was sore behind.
Still the king: Hall of Famer Jim Cassidy still has what it takes. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images
Melbourne Cup winner Protectionist ($5) an ingloriously, being beaten 16 lengths into seventh spot.
But all honours to Cassidy for winning a third Sydney Cup, almost three decades after his first win on Marooned in 1986. He also won the race with County Tyrone in 2006.
"It was unfortunate that I couldn't get a ride last Monday, I love it that much it was a little bit hurtful, but it's nice to be here on the big days,'' Cassidy said.
"I got the call up on Wednesday to ride this horse, I've had a bit of luck on him. He ran good on Monday, I assessed the form and didn't think the three main chances had been going as well as they were going into the Melbourne Cup.
"I thought he was the improver. I rode him at Rosehill and he was unlucky and then Joao (Moreira) rode him here last week and probably was a little bit too close.
"We were going to be close today but I got hammered out of the barriers and so I went to Plan B. When they all got scouting into it at the 700m and I was really trucking into it with no weight, smoking the pipe. I was here to win the Sydney Cup. It's beautiful."
Waller prepared his 11th Group 1 winner of the season and his stable runners have now earned over $18 million prizemoney since August 1 with the Grand Marshall-Who Shot Thebarman quinella.
Chris Waller prepared his 11th Group 1 winner of the season with the Grand Marshall-Who Shot Thebarman quinella. Source: News Corp Australia
"A two-mile race is a different complexion altogether. All we can do is prepare our horses how we thought best,'' Waller said.
"Who Shot Thebarman was getting a dream run following Protectionist and then to see Grand Marshal storm home down the outside, it was pretty good.
"It is a great feeling when you come for a Sydney Cup and it is something special when the two stablemates fight it out.
"It looked like Who Shot Thebarman had the race shot to pieces but to Jimmy's credit he kept grinding away and grinding away.
"It was a lot of fun watching the race when the two stablemates are fighting it out.
"I feel for the other owners of Who Shot Thebarman, I am sure they thought they had the race in the bag. Their turn will come and they will get another shot at the Melbourne Cup."
Craig Williams, rider of Protectionist, said the Melbourne Cup winner was really disappointing.
"In the preliminary he's never moved better,'' Williams said. "Then got into a nice position and I thought this is what he needed a bit more give in the track out to this distance, but at the 1000m I didn't have a horse, I was gone."
The final word to Cassidy: "I don't need the press or any trainer to tell me I'm too old, I will give up riding when I'm ready,'' he said.
"I'm so proud of my wife Vicki because I know she feels for me when I'm not getting rides.
"She knows how much riding means to me. This is why I'm riding at 50kg today because I love it."
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Vintage Ring-A-Ding Cassidy in Cup
Dengan url
http://beritaolahragakuat.blogspot.com/2015/04/vintage-ring-ding-cassidy-in-cup.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Vintage Ring-A-Ding Cassidy in Cup
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Vintage Ring-A-Ding Cassidy in Cup
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar