The training duo of father and daughter, Brett and Georgie Cavanough, marked a pinnacle achievement in their careers when Chidiac charged to success in the Country Championships Final (1400m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
Brett Cavanough, a trainer with over 1100 victories to his name, showed the deep emotional impact of this success.
“I’ve got to try and hold it together a bit, very special today to do it with Georgie,” Cavanough said.
“She tipped Chidiac all week, she had faith in her.”
Georgie Cavanough, who teamed up with her father just this season, noted that the mare was her consistent favourite.
“She’s been my pick all along, she didn’t let us down, she’s a very classy mare,” she said.
“This is great – I couldn’t do it without Mum and Dad, it’s all just very exciting.”
Jockey Zac Purton, a Hong Kong-based rider raised in Coffs Harbour, savoured the victory back in familiar territory.
“I was a country boy my whole childhood, so it’s just great to team up with someone from there and win a race as important as this,” Purton said.
“She travelled really well, at no stage of the race did she give me any concerns.
“She was straight into the bridle, really happy and comfortable where she was in the going.
“Coming up the rise she was travelling so well but I thought she’s been here for a while, is she going to empty out, but she kept going all the way.”
Chidiac, at odds of $5.50, pulled away decisively midway through the straight and fended off Graceful Ellen ($61) by one length, while Micro Mikki ($91) finished another one-and-a-half lengths back in third position.
This success bolsters Cavanough’s impressive history in provincial highlight races, including his 2020 capture of The Kosciuszko with It’s Me.
Cavanough explained that he had advised Purton to exercise patience aboard the mare.
“Zac just took bad luck out of the equation, he made it his race,” he said.
“I just said whatever you do, cuddle her for as long as you can and when you go for her, she is just sharp as.”
Chidiac, a five-year-old daughter of Better Than Ready who started out in humble fields at Quirindi, has secured six wins from 11 outings and may now aim higher.
“We might look at the Stradbroke Handicap in Brisbane,” Cavanough said.
The mare carries the colours of Gerry Harvey, who had a standout afternoon following John Singleton’s Blue Door taking the Kindergarten Stakes earlier.
The market fancy Considered ($3.60) ended up fifth, as her trainer Matthew Dunn indicated the filly might be at the conclusion of her preparation.
“I think she has come to the end of it,” Dunn said.
“She won her heat six weeks ago and it’s a long time to keep them going. But she won six straight so she has done a wonderful job.”
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