The three-year-old gelding opened overnight at $15 but the money started coming shortly before start time – and kept on coming.
By the time they jumped he was $6 and the focus of attention for everyone from the race caller to the punters watching on TV screens.
But the Dwayne Reid-trained horse simply could not catch Gerald, which proved too strong over the last 100m in the $25,000 Think Water Echuca Plate over 1000m.
The same result met local trainers in the first four races on the card – lots of hopes but no results.
With no crowds on-site, it was a somewhat muted affair at Echuca, although the Good 4 track was set up to give local trainers and horses a winning edge.
Rhys Archard’s Ashmosa ran seventh of 14 in the opening race, while Mick Cornish and Donna Gaskin’s Bronny’s Reward made it from emergency to starter but finished way back.
A winning partnership between Wangaratta trainer Ben Brisbourne and apprentice jockey Hannah Edgley continued to pay dividends in the second race of the day.
Edgley, who broke her maiden at Benalla on October 25, has been racking up winners everywhere she rides since and added her first at Echuca to the count when she guided favourite Otelo to his own maiden win over 1200m.
The three-year-old was a comfortable winner over the line, with the Cathleen Wilson-trained Jack Of It running second more than a length back.
Despite improvement coming in her past few rides, Gwenda Johnstone’s Lika Mosh continues the search for a maiden victory, running sixth in her sixth start.
There were few surprises in the maiden plate over 1400m, with the best-placed horses rounding out the top three.
Ballarat trainer Henry Dwyer’s Better Tomorrow went one better after a second at Mildura a month earlier, while Barry Goodwin’s She Ha continued her run of seconds, with five runners-up finishes in 13 starts.
Shrugging off a tough barrier draw, Better Tomorrow came from second-last to first, sprinting home with an outside lane on the final straight to win by a neck over Ha She, with Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young’s three-year-old Alverdun finishing third on debut.
Rounding out the first half of the card in the highly regarded Benchmark 64 over 3200m, Frankenstar scored back-to-back wins for Geelong trainer Kathryn Durdin, holding off a more heavily raced Border Leicester.
See Friday’s Riverine Herald for a wrap-up of the final three races.
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