Prize money for the win was $11,000 but punters who had either picked the horse’s form or followed the plunge as the price kept coming down certainly lifted a fair bit more than that from the track.
The five-year-old mare was followed home by Elvaric (17/1) and Zhenya (19/1) while Eaton (16/1) completed the first four — a bet that would have landed you $24,208 if you had that combination.
The big win was five-year-old mare Georgia’s Host's first since January and her fourth from 28 career starts.
The highly fancied $4.20 favourite Iruba finally crossed the finish line 12th of 14 runners.
But that was all forgotten by trainers, owners and punters as they watched Georgia’s Host go from all but stone cold last with little more than 200 m to go to launching a scorching charge down the outside of the field, sweeping past the leaders to hit the line full of running.
Straight after the race an elated Mick Cornish described it as “a great little win and a great ride by Dean Holland and they got the job done, thank God”.
He also dismissed concerns the mare’s previous result at Wangaratta — where she finished ninth out of 12 over the same distance on a heavy eight — was due to the track.
“I don’t think the wet ground really worries her (Seymour was a soft six) at all, I think it was just a case of where she was placed in the run,” Cornish said.
“She sort of started losing ground before the turn and just drifted out and just picked up the bit and ran home.”
In the start before that, at her home track of Echuca, Georgia’s Host finished third on another soft six, that time over 1300 m.
“We brought her home after Wangaratta and pulled some bloods but everything was spot-on,” Cornish said.
“So we sort of came back here today and played on — and it was a good result.
“She really is a momentum type of horse and once she builds up that momentum she does run on. I don’t think this horse gets to look at too many good barriers, you know, in the car park all the time.
“So what we were looking at today was getting some cover, and just building that momentum, which I think Dean did well today.”
Cornish also described life and work in the Echuca-Moama `bubble’ as a nightmare that was frustrating he and Donna Gaskin, as well as the team — with members both sides of the border finding it increasingly difficult to get around.
