Trainer Pat Webster was quick to deflect the praise after new stable acquisition Keepin' The Dream raced to victory in Thursday's Listed Gosford Gold Cup.Webster and his son Wayne only took over the training of Keepin' The Dream last week as Jim and Greg Lee started a three-month suspension after pleading guilty to Budabar returning a higher than allowable level of TCO2 in a pre-race blood sample at Canterbury on September 24.Keepin' The Dream started at $41 in the $125,000 provincial feature ov
Trainer Pat Webster was quick to deflect the praise after new stable acquisition Keepin' The Dream raced to victory in Thursday's Listed Gosford Gold Cup.
Webster and his son Wayne only took over the training of Keepin' The Dream last week as Jim and Greg Lee started a three-month suspension after pleading guilty to Budabar returning a higher than allowable level of TCO2 in a pre-race blood sample at Canterbury on September 24.
Keepin' The Dream started at $41 in the $125,000 provincial feature over 2100m and the gelding made a long sustained run under apprentice Tommy Berry to win by a neck over Strike One with 1-3/4 lengths to Alexander Of Hales in third.
Pat Webster is a brother-in-law of Jim and Greg Lee and said they, along with the team behind the horse including trackwork rider Rose Whitelaw, foreman Martin Scott and strapper Kierra Lees-Smith, deserved the credit.
"I've only had the horse for five minutes," Webster said.
"We hadn't done a lot with him, we went in on a bit of a wing and a prayer, but he was well weighted (with 53kg).
"I must admit I was a bit worried when he (Berry) took off but as it turned out it was a good ride."
Keepin' The Dream was back in the field early but Berry decided to track Hugh Bowman on eventual runner-up Strike One when he made a mid-race move to press forward and apply pressure to the frontrunners.
The six-year-old finished best in the straight to deny the Chris Waller-trained pair who filled the placings.
Berry said he was confident Keepin' The Dream would be in the finish when he was able to get on the back of Bowman to bring him into the race.
"That was his third run in, up to 2100 metres and he made a nice long run from the 1000-metre mark so it was a good tough effort, he was still strong at the end of it," Berry said.
"Once I had a nice cart up into the race it was perfect for him."
The win of Keepin' The Dream made it a second Cup success for the Webster partnership in the past two weeks after Thankgodyou'rehere took out the Hawkesbury Gold Cup (1600m) on November 4.
Race favourite Rainbow Styling ($3.60) could only manage fourth after having a tough run early in the race.
"The horse ran really well but I had to do a bit of work to get to where I was," jockey Nash Rawiller said.
"I was happy when I got in but after 300 metres then Hugh took off (on Strike One) and it took him out of his comfort zone.
"It probably wasn't one of my better rides."