What A Prince take outs Geraldton Gold Cup win following podium finish in the Batavia Sprint

During the Geraldton Turf Club’s marquee event on the calendar year, local runner What A Prince took out the win in the Cup run after leading the entire way.

Coming from Barry Newnham’s stable, the win in the main race comes following a runner up finish earlier in the season in the Batavia Sprint.

Now the horse enjoys the win in the $125,000 Gold Cup marquee race, with jockey Chris Nicoll at the helm.

As the race jumped, the six-year-old gelding finished paying $6, and was contested by strong competition.

In the 13-runner field, the local horse led well to win by a length.

He beat out the one of the pre-race favourites in Beats Of War from Darren McAuliffe’s stable, and Gold Friars finished on the podium in the cup for a second year in a row. The trifecta paid $332.70.

The win continues a successful stretch for What A Prince, with the Newnham’s horse currently on a run of five straight races finishing in the top two, all in Geraldton.

With the win, Newnham received $68,500 as part of the $125,000 prize pool for the cup, which was a $25,000 increase over last years marquee race.

In the other races on the day, the favourites saw mixed results with the first race seeing $13 Make Mine Super take the win.

Jockey Troy Turner enjoyed wins in both the third and fifth race on The Collector and Pilote, with both being roughies at $14 and $26.

While the combination of Pearce racing and Chris Parnham brought home wins in the second and sixth, with Pull The Trigger and Defending.

Both were tipped to win as the pre-race favourites paid $1.50 and $1.85 respectively.

The third race saw Rockstar Status from Baldivis take the win while Clint Johnston-Porter came out with a win in race seven on the back of Bleecker Street.

Natasha Faithful was the winning jockey in the final race with First Contact, as the horse paid $9.50 and the trifecta came out at $471.10.

The Geraldton Turf Club still has three regular meetings left on the season, with the next on Wednesday, April 17 as the Cup marks an end to a successful season.

Results:

Race 1: Make Mine Super (2), Powerpop (9), Speedy Nova (4).

Race 2: Pull The Trigger (2), Stuck By Luck (3), L’amour Esprit (8).

Race 3: The Collector (6), Juruena Gold (2), Butterflyrock (1).

Race 4: Rockstar Status (1), Bayhara (3), Traded Crown (7).

Race 5: Pilote (4), Decoration (2), Northeast Eagle (10).

Race 6: Defending (5), Dream To Me (2), Three Sessions (7).

Race 7: Bleecker Street (2), Platinum Shot (5), Madame Magic (3).

Race 8: What A Prince (5), Beats Of War (4), Gold Friars (6).

Race 9: First Contact (8), Big Cities (5), Identifier (11).