A significant increase in weight wasn’t enough to stop Red Knot claiming a second consecutive country cup win at Warren on Sunday.
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Red Knot, the five-year-old gelding coming off a win in the Coonabarabran Cup last month, was lugged with an extra 5kg in Sunday’s $30,000 Cotton Cup (1600m).
But it mattered little as jockey Serg Lisnyy gave Red Knot a charmed run behind leader Cowboys Karma before blowing the field away down the straight.
Lisnyy, who piloted the Coonabarabran Cup win and also took out the Kempsey Cup on Friday, guided Red Knot ($2.60 favourite) to a three-and-a-half-length win.
“It was great to see him carry the weight the way he did today and even better to see him take a sit and relax and then kick from the 600m so there was a few pleasing things today,” Northam told Sky Thorougbred Central after the win.
Cowboys Karma ($3.30), trained at Dubbo by Allan Gibson, entered the race in fine form after four straight wins however the Warren feature was a step up in class.
Cowboys Karma led the field into the bend while Wyong-based Lisnyy and Red Knot stalked the lead.
Rodney Robb’s Security Code ($16) also sat towards the front, along with Uncle Sugar ($12).
That was the order as the field entered the bend for home and as they hit the straight Lisnny made his move.
Red Knot powered clear of the field and then cruised to a dominant win while Uncle Sugar, ridden by Claire Nutman for Tara and Philippe Vigoroux, ran home well for second and Shadow Affair ($8) was third.
Northam hinted he may target the looming Mudgee Cup next with Red Knot, insisting there was no rush to head back to metropolitan tracks with the gelding who now has five wins from 20 starts.
The day’s feature sprint, the Macquarie Toyota Warren Dash (1200m) saw former Western Districts ‘Horse of the Year’ Shadow Force return to form.
The Kylie Kennedy-trained Shadow Force had a slender lead as the field turned for him and he managed to hold off Dubbo-trained duo Danish Lace ($5) and Joey's Destiny ($2.05 favourite).