There wasn’t a dry eye at Sandown on Wednesday as the Ross Purcell-trained Neverstandingstill (Madison Lloyd, $6.50) scored an emotional victory in the 1000m Benchmark 70 Handicap.
The win was the Jerilderie trainer’s first since taking over from the late Phil Sweeney, who passed away in April.
Making it a full circle moment for connections, Neverstandingstill, which has raced 12 times for five wins and three minor placings, was Sweeney’s final metropolitan winner after the Starcraft mare triumphed at Sandown in September of last year.
Phil’s cousin Paul Sweeney was on course for the win, and he explained it had been a ‘tough three months’ for the family and that he was pleased for Purcell and connections.
“He’d be pretty happy, I think; he’s done a super job to take over this team for Phillip, and it’s working out pretty well,” Paul Sweeney said in an interview with Racing.com after the race.
“That’s the first winner we’ve had since Phillip passed away; she’s a tough mare, and he (Phil Sweeney) always had a lot of faith in her and Ross has done a super job.”
Purcell, who in the last decade has enjoyed success with Saint Aquilina and Zarsupreme, was thrust into the job, but from all reports, he’s settled into the role.
“He has a couple of horses in work at all times for him and a few mates around Jerilderie; he is a great horseman, was a good amateur rider, and knows what he’s doing,” Sweeney said.
Josh Curtis, who’s had a lot to do with the stable over the years, strapped the mare on Wednesday, and Sweeney explained that the Jerilderie-based team had come together at a time of need and was working hard to honour Phil Sweeney’s lasting legacy.
“Josh had been with Phillip for seven or eight years, and he knows it well, and the system hasn’t changed,” Sweeney said.
“It’s just that Ross has stepped in there and taken over, and it’s going good, and he’s here strapping today, and we’re pretty happy.”
While not in the limelight of the Victorian metropolitan scene, Purcell and his team will venture to Leeton on Saturday with two runners engaged on the Sky 2 program.
Hi Poppy (Michael Heagney) will contest the 1050m Maiden Plate, and Magic Jack (Kayla Nisbet) is one of the top weights in the 1050m Benchmark 50 Handicap.
For Leeton fields, click here.
