Dupride Star gave her Country Championships campaign a boost with a narrow win at Albury on Thursday.
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The Gary Colvin-trained mare just got her nose to the line first to take out the $27,000 SDRA Country Championship Preview Class Four Handicap (1175m) with Dupride Star.
The Ron Stubbs-trained Baledon was well supported late after being backed in from $4 into the $2.40-favourite.
The plunge failed by the barest of margins after Baledon sprouted wings late but Dupride Star was able to prevail by a nose.
Colvin said he thought Dupride Star kicked on the line which was enough for the judge to rule in her favour in a tight photo finish.
"I thought she kicked on the line and that run will really top her off in regards to the Country Championships," Colvin said.
"I still wonder if she can run a strong 1400m but I will have a yarn to Danny (Beasley) and see what he thinks.
"She will benefit from the run for sure.
"I thought she might have been a bit fresh today and there didn't look to be a lot of pace in the race but Danny rode her well and got the job done."
It was her second start this preparation after resuming with a fourth at Murrumbidgee Turf Club earlier this month.
Meanwhile a step-up in distance and clever ride by jockey Nick Souquet paved the way for the Rob Wellington-trained Bobotov to notch his first career win.
Bobotov had previously finished amongst the placings on five occasions from 10 starts before finally breaking through in the $30,000 Country Boosted Maiden Handicap (1400m).
Souquet stalked the leader Blazing Beverley ($18) for most of the trip before Bobotov ($3.90) burst through along the rails at the 200m mark and quickly put a gap on his rivals.
Race favourite Launch Mode ($2.70) made up plenty of late ground before going down by just over half-a-length with top-weight Jedinak ($3.40) third.
Bobotov has had two starts over 1000m since a freshen-up where he was unplaced on both occasions.
However, Wellington said the step-up to 1400m was in Bobotov's favour and that the galloper was owned by several family members which made the win even sweeter.
"I've been waiting to get him over 1400m and we had to run him over 1000m last-start because the race got cancelled due to a lack of nominations," Wellington said.
"I thought it was a good win and hopefully it provides him with a bit more confidence going forward.
"He is a family owned horse, so the money is in the bank."
