Where’s Poppy broke a thirteen month drought at Kilmore last Friday, gritting his teeth to score gamely under apprentice Sarah Field.
Running in the colours of the Leonard family, Where’s Poppy has gone ever so close to winning on several occasions this season, running consecutive photo-finish seconds on the Ballarat Synthetic in July.
But an ultra calm steer from Sarah got the job done on Friday, as she let Where’s Poppy travel comfortably around the bend while leaders Coffin Dodger and Turn Up The Night kicked for home.
Where’s Poppy hit the front at the 150m mark, and while he had a huge think about it after taking the lead, he kept going and held a small but winning margin on the line.
It was a special win for Sarah, who has been aboard the son of Magnus for his past three runs.
“I’m really happy for this old boy to get a win today – he really deserved it, he shows up everytime,” she said.
“Tommy and Monique do a really good job with their horses, and I’m really grateful I was able to stick on him.
“Mick and his partner (Helen) are really good to me, so I really appreciate it.”
The race itself played out perfectly from the saddle, even if there were a few nervous moments towards the end.
“He is an older horse, so he outsmarts us a little bit I think, but he always runs really well,” Sarah said.
“With the blinkers today, it worked out really good just in behind the speed. I felt the winner a long way out, but geez he had a think about it late.
“But it was really good that he got the job done today, he did deserve it.”