Irish jockey Cian MacRedmond posted his first win on Australian soil when he booted home the Almighty Will at Kyneton.
The win was especially thrilling for Ben Plant (pictured with Almighty Will), a member of the Hirsch Park racing team, and for his brother Nikolas, who is also a part-owner and Cian’s jockey agent.
Cian was having just his 10th ride in Australia and delivered a winning performance against the pattern of the day, weaving through the field from near last to land Tuesday’s bet365 Kyneton Cup Nov 6 BM58 Hcp (1469m).
The eight-year-old gelding has been around for a while and has won nine of his 64 starts and nearly $230,000 in prizemoney.
Almighty Will’s last win was in April last year and only five weeks ago transferred to the care of trainer Vincent Malady at Hirsch Park.
Second up for the stable, Almighty Will put in an inglorious performance at Wangaratta last start on October 8, but Vincent backed off his work and had him fresher at Kyneton.
“Before his last run we brought him here to (Kyneton) to gallop on the grass and he probably did a bit too much,” Vincent said.
“Since then, we have kept him at home and freshened him up a bit and with a bit more spring in his step he won.”
Vincent commended Cian for his ride, given that on-pace horses were favoured at the meeting.
“By the of the day they were all going mad up front but Cian got back and just picked his way through them,” Vincent said.
Settling worse than midfield on the rails, Almighty Will ($11) was at one stage nearly 10 lengths off the lead but kept taking runs and made a late charge to score by nearly half a length from Star Buyer ($6) and Mr Marrakech (($4).