THE father-and-son training partnership of Bill and Symon Wilde won just one race during their home-town carnival but thankfully it was one of the races that mattered as Hissing Sid made it back-to-back victories in the listed Warrnambool Cup for a big team of Warrnambool-based connections, reports The Age.It says: ''We haven't had a lot of luck all week but to win your home-town cup again just makes up for it all," said Symon Wilde.With riders keen to steer clear of the inside section of t

THE father-and-son training partnership of Bill and Symon Wilde won just one race during their home-town carnival but thankfully it was one of the races that mattered as Hissing Sid made it back-to-back victories in the listed Warrnambool Cup for a big team of Warrnambool-based connections, reports The Age.

It says: ''We haven't had a lot of luck all week but to win your home-town cup again just makes up for it all," said Symon Wilde.

With riders keen to steer clear of the inside section of the track after a heavy workload over two-and-a-half days of racing, the defending champion appeared to be in an awkward position as the field turned for home with Ben Melham hemmed in near the fence.

But, Bill Wilde revealed afterwards, the ride had been carefully planned earlier in the day, with a belief that the inside section might not be as bad as the pattern of racing suggested.

''What a beautiful ride it was. Symon and Ben between them orchestrated that plan to stick to the fence and they all fanned out on the turn and everything worked out brilliantly for us," Bill Wilde said.

In a slowly run cup, Melham angled towards the rails as the field left the fence on the home turn and, with a superior turn of foot, surged clear of the pack to run to a commanding lead. Rank outsider and early leader Cruyfforme held on for second, with Light Vision third ahead of a wall of horses.

Bill Wilde admitted he was a little worried that Hissing Sid might not have been going as well as he had last year in the lead-up to yesterday's race, after he failed when an odds-on favourite at Flemington in his final lead-up run, a race he won easily last year. A hard track was blamed for the defeat - a theory that was proved yesterday with Hissing Sid returning to his very best on a softer surface.