Sunday, 10 June 2012: Former Kiwi jockey Billy Egan made the most of a pick-up ride to win Sunday's $85,000 Swan Hill Cup aboard Cellarmaster.
Egan got the call-up from Cellarmaster's trainer Patrick Payne after Craig Robertson was unable to fulfil his commitments at the meeting.
Egan's had to waste to get down to 54.5kg and then had to work hard to defeat Ebony Rock and Scardeymac.
“It was worth it to get to 54.5 and I'm glad it's all paid off,” Egan said.
Egan turned in a patient ride aboard the four-year-old Cellarmaster, settling midfield before making a well-timed run down the centre of the track to beat Ebony Rock by a neck.
Payne felt Cellarmaster deserved a win after a luckless fifth in the Mildura Cup at his previous outing.
“He ran terrific at Mildura,” Payne said. “I thought it was a stronger field today, which would make it hard for him, but he's been very consistent all the way through.
“He's not an easy horse to ride. He's only got a short sprint so special credit to Billy Egan.
“It was a really a perfect ride. He had a nice run, produced him at the right time and the horse really dug deep the last little bit which was really good to see.”
The $35,000 Court Hero Sprint (975m) was won by apprentice Jackie Beriman on God's Window for trainer Shaun Dwyer while Leon Corstens and Linda Meech combined to claim the Think Big Classic (2100m) with Builder O'Reilly.
