Happy connections of It Is Billy after winning the Geelong Cup.
Less than a month out from the Summer of Glory carnival Daylesford star It Is Billy is the talk of the town.
Trainer Michael Barby’s seven-year-old scored his biggest win yet last night at Geelong, pocketing the lion’s share of the prize money and the silverware in the Group 3 Corio Waste Management Geelong Pacing Cup.
Driven a treat by Barby’s wife Anne-Maree Conroy, It Is Billy signalled his arrival on the grand stage by out-sprinting race favourite Hectorjayjay at the end of the 2570-metre feature.
In the run you wanted to be on either race favourite Hectorjayjay ($2.40), who pinged off the arm from gate one to lead easily, or It Is Billy ($5.5), who trailed the leader from eight.
At the quarter pole the leader looked to have plenty in hand after 29.3, 29.8 and 29.1 opening splits of the final mile.
But once the sprint lane opened up Conroy and It Is Billy blasted into top gear to overhaul the leader in a final split of 27.7secs for a 1:56.6 mile rate.
Underrated stayer Im Corzin Terror (Greg Sugars) ran third but his was the run of the race outside the winner, covering ground three-wide from the half-mile and beaten only half a length at the finish.
The night’s other cup feature, the Flying Brick Cider Company McNamara Memorial Trotters Cup was taken by Dead Cat Bounce (Revenue/Wee Annie) for trainer Nicole Molander and reinsman Chris Alford.
The six-year-old mare stepped like a professional from the tapes and was never overtaken on her way to a 2:04.3 win – her second country cup success since crossing the Tasman.
There will be plenty of horses to follow from the Geelong meeting with winners Macterra Lad, Emmanuel, Cruz Bromac and Ellas Puppeteer all rising stars.
