Travers and Cahill unite to win Cowra Cup
Good friends Michael Travers and Mathew Cahill combined to win the time-honoured Cowra Cup on Sunday, with tenacious galloper Mathrin causing somewhat of an upset in the $36,000 feature.
Going past the winning post for the first time, Mathrin trailed the field, sitting five lengths off the second-to-last horse.
Cahill sat quietly and patiently on the $9.50 outsider, and after turning for home, the pair found the rails and hit the line strongly, defeating race favourite Victory Roll (Shaun Guymer, $2.70) by a half-head while in third and a half-length off the winner was Astunner (Damon Budler, $3.70).
Travers was quick to praise his good mate following the victory.
“It took a legend like Matty Cahill to get her home with a legendary ride; it’s fantastic,” Travers said.
“He’s been the mayor of Cowra for as long as I can remember, so when I decided to come here, I rang him and said, ‘Can you please ride one for me?’ and she (Mathrin) was the one we put him on, so it’s a fantastic result.”
Connections weren’t overly confident of a win with Mathrin, while stablemate Kahawaty (Nick Heywood, $4.60) started the third favourite and raced on the speed before fading to fifth, beaten three lengths.
“Everything went as well as it could possibly go for us; I never expected her to be able to win. We hoped and prayed, but as I said, M.A. Cahill, you can’t do any better,” Travers said.
It was a memorable win for the pair, who are good friends on and off the track.
Cahill is a Cowra product, while Travers spent eight years based at the Central Districts racecourse.
Despite competing on the track for most of their careers, they often travelled to the races together and built a long-lasting friendship.
For Travers, the result ends his pursuit of what had been an elusive Cowra Cup.
Riding for Scott Morrisey in 2006, Travers thought he had won his first Cowra feature on Intemperate, only for the result to be overturned in the steward’s room.
Intemperate would be relegated to second place, with the Mark Warren-trained Ras Tafari landing the win.
In 2010, Travers went close again, finishing second on the Ken Parsons-trained Mosseltov, which went down to the Leigh Davis-trained Just Jammin.
“It’s nice to finally get one, especially after losing one on protest as a jockey,” Travers said.
Cahill was pleased to score a big win for the Wagga trainer, who only turned his attention to training in 2020, and he was full of praise for Mathrin, who did everything right for the veteran jockey.
“I was riding under instructions, and he (Travers) just said, ‘ride her really cold and don’t move on her until we get to about the 500m’, and that’s what we did,” Cahill said.
“The runs opened up, which was really good, and it was a good, genuine tempo, so that probably suited her, too.
“There was no weight on her back, and she is a genuine little mare; she was trying her heart out for me.”
Now proven over more distance, Cahill doesn’t see why Mathrin can’t win another nice race in the near future.
“No doubt on that run she would,” Cahill said.
“She switches off; she doesn’t pull at all; she drops the bridle; she is really kind in the run for you and a really professional racehorse.”Words: Jeff Hanson
Image: Racing Photography
