Gold for a Penny

In 2017 with Chris Nicoll in the saddle, Penny To Sell finished almost two lengths clear.The big difference, according to the stable’s Mel Sell, was the weight.

In 2017 the horse cantered around the track with just 55kg on board, but Saturday saw it lumped with a hefty 60kg.

According to Sell they were confident about the horse’s chances but concerned about “the very firm” track and the fact their horse is a momentum runner.

“She builds up speed through the race but with that weight we were very aware that if she got into any trouble during the race and got a check, it would have been a lot to ask her to get up and get going again,” she said.

“So our instructions to Sam were whatever happens, try and stay in the clear, even if it means going a bit wide.”

And wide is exactly where Payne and Penny To Sell ended up, doing it almost alone and without any cover from go to whoa.

But the jockey had timed it to perfection, with the eight-year-old mare kicking into top gear as the field straightened and Payne let the horse go.

Coming from well back in the field it ran its own race in a straight line from bend to finish and about five or six wide.

Even though the big race of the day was a pretty rough affair, with stewards listing six incidents during running with horses bumped or jammed for space, Payne made sure Penny To Sell stayed well away except for some buffeting as the field jumped.

With Penny To Sell trapped wide for much of the 1800m Payne did well not to panic or try and find somewhere to park himself off the speed and she hit the line full of running with a triumphant Payne punching the air.

Sell said this was a cup they never thought the horse would enter, let alone win, after its owners decided to put her up for sale, as a broodmare, more than a year ago.

But three of them still wanted to keep her for a country cups campaign and they purchased her out of the sale and returned her to the Sell’s stables in Bendigo.

“When she won the Gunbower Cup in 2017 she went on to win the Dunkeld Cup and races at Flemington and Bendigo,” Sell added.

“This year, to be honest, on a class factor we thought she had a big chance but it was just her second start this prep, after running a 1200m race eight days ago, and with the weight there was some doubt,” she said.

The Sells have had the mare her whole career, picking her up off the plane from New Zealand as a yearling.

Mick could not attend Gunbower as he was at Flemington for the day but Mel said it worked out better that way.

“Every time I take her to a big race she wins, so we are better off with Mick training and me doing the job on the day,” she laughed.

Next up for Penny To Sell will be a race at Kyneton, the day after the Melbourne Cup.

The only local to have success on the day was Jim Lake’s Rose of Capri, which took out the lucky last – the $15,000 Peter Walsh MP Handicap over 1300m.