Albany Racing Club president Alan Smith wins Jericho Cup qualifier for shot at ‘once in a lifetime’ cup

Deadly And Fast claimed Sunday’s Jericho Cup WA qualifier at Albany Racing Club with a dominant display, giving club president Alan Smith a “once in a lifetime” shot at cup glory in Victoria later this year. The six-year-old gelding settled in the back half of the field in the $100,000 TABtouch The Road To The Jericho Cup WA Qualifier (3100m) after starting awkwardly, before making a big move around the outside as the field closed up later in the race. Albany jockey Tash Faithfull timed her run perfectly, coming wide around the field and then sprinted hard from the home turn as front runners Royal Law ($13) and Mister Popcorn ($10) faded. Deadly And Fast ($3.30) was too strong at the finish, pushed out by Faithfull to win by more than three lengths over the tiring field. Royal Law finished second while Albany galloper Pure Chino ($8) was third nearly five lengths adrift. Smith’s gelding ran third in the same race last year and he was delighted with the ride from Faithfull. “Everything went his way, and he’s had plenty of races during the season where things didn’t go his way, so it’s good to see it all pay off in the end,” he said. The winner of the qualifier also receives $20,000 to transport both horse and trainer to Warrnambool for the Jericho Cup (3100m) in November but Smith said representing Albany in Victoria would be a dream come true. “There’s a lot of water under the bridge to cover between now and November, and that’s a lot of time for things to go wrong in horseracing,” he said. “We’ll think of the horse first, see how he pulls up and how he performs between now and then, but we’re definitely considering it right now.” The feature race win gave Faithfull a double after she booted home Swindle The Dough in the TABtouch Place A Same Race Multi Maiden (1500m). The Racing WA Provincial Championship Series Heat (1230m) was also run on Sunday, with Lost Gravity ($6) saluting for trainer Misty Bazeley and jockey Ava Catarino. Lost Gravity sat second in running and booted clear in the straight to beat race favourite God Has Drifted ($2.25) by three lengths. Trainer Roy Rogers and jockey Amy Jo Hayes scored a winning double on the eight-race card with Yardstick a narrow winner in race three before Gift Of The Heart led all of the way in race four.