CHAMPION Sydney jockey Chris Munce bucked 128 years of tradition when he steered Keepin' The Dream to victory in the $130,000 Group III Panthers Hawkesbury Gold Cup last Thursday.
Keepin' The Dream ($14) got a terrific trail on the fence in sixth behind Spinney ($12), and when that horse moved out on the home turn, Munce charged through the gap to take the lead before holding off a valiant late charge from Sheikh Mohammed's pair of Spin- ney and Bernicia ($4.40) to win by 1/2 neck.
Garry White's North Dakota was the best of the locals in fourth, although Wade Slinkard's Ausbred King (ninth) and White's Cullen Castle (10th) were not far away in a race where just 41/2 lengths separated the entire field.
Munce became just the fourth jockey to win three Hawkesbury Gold Cups in its 138-year history, he entered the record books as the first hoop to claim the club's historic triple crown of the Cup, the Hawkesbury Guineas and the Rowley Mile in the same year.
Munce won the Guineas on Rel- ated and the Mile on Lyncean Aca- demy on Standalone Saturday.
Only Jack Thompson (1940-51-63), Malcolm Johnston (1975-77-81) and Darren Beadman (1986-88-89) had won three Cups before Munce, who added this year's triumph to previous victories on Sto- way (2003) and Beauty Watch (2006) for Gai Waterhouse.
But despite his success here, the little champ said winning Hawkes- bury features was far from easy.
"I don't know about easy, no race is easy," he said.
"They put on a great show at Hawkesbury and Panthers have been a great supporter and sponsor for many years, so it's a great thrill and very exciting to know (that I'm the first to win the triple crown) and it's pleasing to be among those names that have won three Cups.
"It was a tough race, I didn't have it won until after the winning post.
"His (Keepin' The Dream) last run was very good with a lot of weight on his back and he had a pretty soft run throughout the race, which gave him a big finish."
Keepin' The Dream's victory in front of a healthy crowd of over 8000 people was the first Cup winner for Randwick brothers Jim and Greg Lee and was vindication after a tough year that included the horse being stripped of a Listed victory in the Sky High Stakes in March for returning an elevated testosterone reading.
That incident earned the brothers a $10,000 fine, but Jim Lee said it was an unfortunate occurrence that could now be put behind them.
"It's a lovely club, it's been good to me over the years," Lee said of Hawkesbury.
"I thought once the speed was on up front that he'd be hard to beat with the 53kg, but you never know.
"It wasn't that long ago he had a race taken off him when he came back with a positive, which was no fault of anyone, it just worked out that way.
"He got into the race quite well (at the weights) today considering what happened, that's as much as we can say.
"He's always had the ability, but it's been a late maturing family.
"It's the first Hawkesbury Cup I've won ? I was just trying to work out whether I've had a runner bef- ore and I wouldn't be able to say yay or nay to that.
? Continued Page 77
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