Jamie Kah continued her excellent season winning the Kingsford Smith Cup aboard $11 shot Vega One in a pulsating finish that could have 5 different winners in the final 50 yards.
The wide barrier draw meant that Kah had to take Vega One to the back of the field and stayed there pretty much to the final 100m before weaving through a packed field inside the final furlong.
It was a magical display by Kah as she navigated a path for Vega One through the field before showing an amazing burst of speed in the final 50m to get over the top of Signore Fox and Jonker.
In the other Group One on the day, The Queensland Derby, Explosive Jack was in the hunt for an unprecedented 4th Derby win but it wasn’t to be as Chris Waller trained the quinella in another head bobbing finish.
For James McDonald it was his second Group 1 in a week when he steered Kukeracha ($10) to victory over stablemate Senor Toba and relegating race favourite Explosive Jack to third.
Money had come early on for the ATC and South Australian Derby winner but the Waller pair profited from clear air and battled it out side by side with the Neville Morgan owned Kukeracha winning by a nose.
Finally in the Fred Best Classic Ayrton was unable to reel in Apache Chase who put on a true front running performance to steel a spot in the Stradbroke in the big Group 3 of the day.
Earlier in the week all eyes had been on Ayrton but after letting the front runners roll along up top he struggled in the home straight to close the distance on the red silks and missed out on a final chance to tackle the Stradbroke Handicap.