Berry The Cash, the hot favourite for the Hospitality NZ Canterbury Grand National Hurdles (4200m) this weekend, completed the perfect dress rehearsal for that feature - taking out the Avon City Ford Sydenham Hurdles (3100m) on Saturday, albeit with a healthy dose of racing luck.
Trained at Awapuni by Mark Oulaghan, the 8-year-old was shooting for a sixth win in a row but looked likely to settle for a gallant runner-up finish under his 73kg topweight, when the Paul Nelson-trained Dictation held a clear three-length margin on his rival approaching the last obstacle on the 3100m journey.
Unfortunately, he slightly misjudged his leap and tipped jockey Hamish McNeill out of the saddle leaving Berry The Cash and Portia Matthews to go two better than their third-place finish in the race last year and claim victory from Lord Spencer and Run Jakko Run.
Oulaghan, who was pleased with his charge heading into the race, admitted they had had luck on their side to get the result.
