Bobby El-Issa recovered after being thrown by Ten Tigers behind the barriers at Albury on Friday afternoon to steer 2016 Country Championship finalist Bank On Henry ($2.90) to a commanding victory in Saturday’s Angullong Banjo Paterson Cup at Towac Park.
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Riding for Canberra duo Barbara Joseph and Paul Jones, El-Issa shook off a bruised wrist and leg to produce a perfect ride on the six-year-old gelding, storming home to claim the 1300-metre, $30,000 feature race.
“It’s not the first time he’s had an issue with Ten Tigers, he’s mine too. He’s taken him to two races and been scratched both times but I rang Bobby early [on Saturday] morning and he was a bit bruised but he said he’d definitely be there in Orange. He rode him perfectly too,” Joseph said.
“You know, [Bank On Henry] is getting on a bit now in age but after he ran second in Wagga the week before I saw this race and said to Paul ‘let’s send him to Orange’. He said it was too soon, but I think he’s getting back to the form he had as a three or four-year-old.
“The kind of form that took him to the Country Championship final, it’s just a bugger he’s old and has had too many starts to get another run in that.
“We haven’t really looked for any more races for him after this one yet, but it really was a thrill to be able to win in Orange, I haven’t had a win there in quite a while.”
Bank On Henry, coming into Saturday’s run with five wins from 33 starts, was a little bit slow out of the barriers and slipped to last early on while Richard Litt’s Klisstra ($5) assumed the lead from $2.60 favourite Ultima Chance.
He didn’t take long to drive up to fourth on the rails though and had pushed up into third by the 1000-metre mark, by then it had become a race between those three runners as was predicted after Adam Duggan’s Kopite scratched.
Ultima Chance edged past Litt’s mare at the 800 mark but hadn’t made it to the rails, Klisstra held that spot with Bank On Henry travelling well having shifted one wide.
With his two biggest rivals sharing the lead at the 400 mark as they turned into the straight, El-Issa made his move on the six-year-old.
The trio had a short jostle at the top of the straight but, running three wide, Bank On Henry proved far too classy in the sprint to romp home by more than a length.
Ultima Chance ran second with Klisstra third, with Showmaster ($5.50) three lengths further back in fourth and Escebee ($9) another three behind.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
