Raymond and Maree Smith couldn’t be more delighted with their speedster Little Digger after he was able to claim a sensational win in the Ladbrokes Dubbo Gold City Cup on Friday.
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The talented two-year-old had plenty of work to do after falling behind the early stages of the 516-metre race but worked his way back to steal the win in a photo from Ferrero Miss.
Maree Smith said it was a thrill to watch Fernando Bale x Solar Pak progeny get himself back into the contest.
“It was very exciting. We were behind the boxes so we didn’t know if he had won until we got closer to the semaphore board,” Smith said.
“It was another of our dogs he ran into at the start but that can happen in racing.
“We knew he was strong but he was up against some some strong competition. Falcon’s Fury is very talented.”
All the focus in the buildup to the Cup was the duel between Smith and the Cowra-based training duo of Paul and Pamela Braddon.
With three runners each, there was a strong chance that one was going to claim the $10,000 first prize and it was the Forbes trainer who got the win.
Little Digger and Braddon’s Falcon’s Fury started equal $3 favourites but it was Braddon’s $16 outsider Ferrero Miss that went agonisingly close to victory.
She led in the final metres and recorded the same time as the victor, 29.85 seconds, but the photo showed it was a nose behind. Falcon’s Fury was a length behind in third.
Little Digger had produced a speedy run in his heat at Dubbo a week earlier to qualify for the Cup, jumping from box five and hitting the lead before the bend for a comfortable all-the-way win.
He drew box two on Friday night, with another of Smith’s trio Midnight Treat ($10) beside him. The two made life difficult for each other, with the pair checking as they came around the first bend.
It caused Little Digger to lose momentum and he was fourth as the stretched out on the back straight.
Ferrero Miss and Falcon’s Fury were battling for the lead as they headed into the final turn, with the former having the inside line.
The wider turn was enough to impact Falcon’s Fury’s run to the line, leaving Little Digger to squeeze between the rail and Ferrero Miss to snatch the victory.
It was another big result for Little Digger after he finished third in the $103,851 Ladbrokes National Derby final in late March.
Smith said that result, and his flying time of 29.52 seconds in the Gold City Cup heat had showed he was capable of mixing it in Group 1 company.
“He’s got a lot of potential. He will head back to Wentworth Park tomorrow [Wednesday] night and we will see where he goes from there.”