In Racing Orange’s season opener, Terry Fahey’s five-year-old produced a stirring run, hatching a plan to hit the front at the 500m marker and ensure top weights Quietly Confident (61kg), Spareel (58kg) and $2.80 favourite, the Gary Portelli trained She Brings (58kg) had to work overs to keep up with the Dubbo chestnut gelding.

The plan worked a treat, too.

After pushing out three deep, Deestructor ($6.50) found the front and then defied the supreme straight speed of Donny Oakley’s Spareel ($15) to win by half a length from the Orange favourite.

Zoolu Power ($3) ran third a further length back

“We were pretty confident about it,” Fahey said post race.

“Where he took off over there (at the 500m mark) is where we said to take off ... we’d make the ones with the weight work. 

“And that’s what happened in the end. It worked well.”

Zoolu Power zoomed out of the gates for race five in Racing Orange’s main event, and maintained a length lead over the seven-horse field up until the 900m mark.

At that point Portelli’s She Brings began to mount a challenge on the Danny Williams’ trained flyer, while Deestructer ascended to the lead three wide.

With 500m to go Deestructor and She Brings shaped as the likely match-up on the straight, but with a clear run on the rail Spareel mounted a massive charge for the victory.

Threatening to take it away from Fahey’s five-year-old, Spareel surged but, ultimately, never took advantage of the inside running to fade slightly for the Dubbo gelding to win.

“He’ll go a lot further, too,” Fahey said, never really doubting his gelding’s ability to match speed when it matters most.

“He’s fairly fit and the little bloke (jockey Ethan Kacmaz) that rode him, rode him just perfectly.

“You wouldn’t get it to ride any better.”

Fahey was rapt to come away with the $14,410 first prize for claiming the Atlas Copco Cup.

“Its great. You don’t win them very often,” he said.

“It worked out pretty well.”

In earlier races, champion hoop Greg Ryan rode Choix De Roses to a commanding win in the Hansen Concrete Maiden Handicap (1000m) in race one and Hariir claimed the win in race two, the Vaada Benchmark 60 Handicap (1000m).

Portelli didn’t leave Towac Park empty handed, with locally-owned Fast Nitz producing a strong half-a-length win in the Train 365 Benchmark 55 Handicap over 1280m.