IT WAS a night out for the locals as Cosmic Prince flew home to claim the Graeme Hull Memorial Gold Cup Final (525m) at the Wagga Showground on Friday night.
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After finishing in the placings last year, Cosmic Prince ($3.50 fav) overcome a two-length deficit coming into the home straight to defeat Tiggerlong Katut by ¾ lengths to take out the Riverina’s richest race in the good time of 30.38 seconds.
Tiggerlong Katut ($8.50) led most of the way for The Rock trainer John Cusack, but he just couldn’t sustain his run.
After drawing barrier five on Monday trainer Craig Price started to get concerned about his chances, but when Cosmic Prince jumped well to slot in behind the leader Price’s confidence started to grow.
The Wagga trainer was thrilled to come away with the biggest win of his career, and give Wagga a rare win in the feature race.
“It’s a dream come true,” Price said.
“He was in the cup last year and he got in a lot of trouble, but this cup I changed a few things around to try and set him better and its paid off.”
After only three years in the sport, Price believes he learnt a lot from last year’s final when he eventually finished third.
He altered his lead up, trying not to push him as hard and it’s part of the winning formula.
Coming into the heat, Cosmic Prince hadn’t raced since finishing down the track in a Golden Easter Egg heat.
