Keith Dryden was running his eye over the sectionals from a Sydney meeting when his phone lit up with the name of a Gunga Din owner.
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"One of the owners rang me up and said 'do you realise he ran the fastest last 200 of the day?'," Dryden said.
"I thought 'well if he does that, he'll be getting home good at the end'. I was pretty happy with the way that worked out for us."
Sure enough, the Dryden-trained Gunga Din stormed home to secure to a victory in Tuesday's 1400 metre Federal at Thoroughbred Park.
Gunga Din finished clear of Gratz Vella's Kanerupt and third-placed Nieces and Nephews, a product of Barb Joseph's partnership with Paul and Matt Jones.
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The 10-horse field broke in a good line with Gunga Din setting up camp at the back of the pack for the majority of the race.
Gunga Din soon turned on the jets with jockey Heni Ede on board as they came onto the Thoroughbred Park straight, surging past their rivals on the outside en route to victory.
"I thought he'd be hard to beat," Dryden said. "All you can to is turn them out, if they run well, well you'll win some races and you'll lose some, but that's how it goes.
"The next meet for us will be the Moruya Cup meeting, I've got about eight down there. I've got three or four in the Cup itself, this bloke is nominated but I don't know if I'll back him up.
"I'll have a look at it, but I've got three or four in the Cup and a couple of other runners on the day. We'll be competitive down there with a couple of horses."
It marked a winning treble for Dryden, having already claimed wins with Dip Me Lid and Eve's Miss throughout the day, putting the veteran trainer in a strong position on the road to another ACT trainer's premiership.
Dryden claimed last year's trainers premiership amid a 12-month period derailed by bushfires and the coronavirus pandemic, with the clouds of the latter still hovering over Thoroughbred Park.
Canberra Racing Club officials were prepared to turn away horses, trainers and jockeys hailing from areas cut off by the ACT government following a virus outbreak on Sydney's northern beaches.
"I was particularly pleased with Eve's Miss today, she backed up well after just getting beaten by a head last week. It was great to turn it around, she was in the quinella so that could have gone either way," Dryden said.
"She's just a mare that hardly ever runs a bad race. Pretty pleased with her, Dip Me Lid ran well. I'm pretty happy with them."
Caden Helmers
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
