On Friday, Grant Buckley won his third Port Macquarie Cup when guiding the Michael, Wayne, and John Hawkes-trained Superium to a famous victory.
Buckley had previously won the race in 2008 on the Kim Waugh-trained Delago Star ($3.20) and again in 2021 aboard the Chis Waller-trained Our Intrigue ($3.50).
Friday’s Country Cup was run and won at Taree’s Manning Valley Race Club due to ongoing upgrades at Port Macquarie, and it made this year’s edition all the more memorable for Buckley.
“These are the races you want to win, and you don’t get a lot of city boys out there for these meetings, meaning you get a crack at some decent rides,” Buckley said.
“My manager, Drew Smith, does a good job putting me on the right ones, and he’s done it again, and it was great to get the win.”
While Superium appeared the class runner on paper in the 2000m Port Macquarie Cup, with the Listed winner fresh off a third placing in the Group 3 Sandown Stakes (1500m) only five days earlier, Buckley was made to work for the win.
“They actually went surprisingly slow when they backed the tempo off like that, and I sort of over-raced a fraction early, and I thought, ‘Oh no, it’s all over’,” Buckley said.
“Then the speed sort of got injected down the back when Benny (Looker) went, and the horse sort of switched off and got into a bit more of a rhythm.
“I didn’t really want to be where I was, but I just had to take my medicine and ride for luck and hope he was the best horse out there, which he was.”
The seven-year-old is now eligible for next month’s $3 million Big Dance and $750,000 Little Dance.
“He’s a lovely horse to ride, and when you’re on him, you know he is a horse,” Buckley said.
“I think a bigger track will suit him, and he had a couple of things against him, but his class shined through today.”
The veteran hoop thanked the Hawkes team for the opportunity.
“The horse was on a quick backup and comes from a great stable,” Buckley said.
“I don’t get that many rides for them, but it’s great I can get the job done for them today.”
Buckley, who is off to Kembla Grange on Saturday, will then venture to Coonamble on Sunday in search of another Country Cup win.
He rides the Rodney Northam-trained High Court in the $75,000 Coonamble Cup (1600m).
The pair combined to win the Wellington Cup in March, which qualified the Scone galloper for the Big Dance and Little Dance, and Northam will no doubt be using Sunday’s Coonamble Cup as a stepping-stone towards one of next month’s rich Country Cup finals.
“He is a nice horse, and we’ve had some luck before, and he is very capable on his day,” Buckley said.
For Taree results, click here.
For Coonamble fields, click here.
