"The owners wanted a senior rider, but there wasn't a suitable one available with the races at Trentham, so Chris got the call and he's done a good job for us," said Lucock.
Correct weight was held up as a result of the connections of runner-up Irish Moon lodging a protest. Irish Moon's rider Cameron Lammas maintained Dell moved away from the rail on straightening in the home straight and was not sufficiently clear when he took the gap between the two leaders Lammas said he was entitled to.
"I was just winding my horse up for a sprint and it took a long time to wind him up the second time. He would have won had he made that gap the winner took off me."
It was difficult not to have sympathy for Lammas' reasoning, but the half length margin persuaded the JCA that placings should stand. A closer margin may have seen a different outcome.
Scott Lucock arrived in the birdcage with a bleeding mouth - surely no one can cheer a horse home that hard. "No, Zinjete Moki was standing alongside me during the race and she got so excited in the closing stages with waving her arms around and she struck me in the mouth." There is no pain after winning a $70,000 sprint.
Favourite Ryan Mark finished third, but was a beaten horse on the home bend and was running on courage for the final 375m. "He's feeling his wheels (needs easier ground)," said rider Michael Coleman.
Tailed right off was high class sprinter Durham Town, winner of eight races and $417,000. Rider Sam Spratt said the veteran had not felt right, but yesterday co-trainer Donna Logan said she could find nothing amiss with the horse. "He cleaned up his feed when he got home, is not sore or anything like that, so I can't say what that was all about. It's the worst race he's ever turned in, but there's nothing wrong with him.
"He'll have a saddle on him tomorrow.
"This is a real head-shaker."
