Celebrations for Patrick Payne’s 50th birthday were made all the sweeter with a double success at Caulfield, thanks to Jimmy The Bear and Stop The Rock delivering in consecutive races.

Training alongside his sister Michelle Payne, the pair teamed up with jockey Billy Egan to take out the VOBIS Gold Heath (2000m) with Jimmy The Bear, followed by a tenacious win from Stop The Rock in the Sportsbet Same Race Multi Handicap.

Jimmy The Bear, fresh from winning the Winter Championship Final (1600m) seven days earlier, jumped a dominant $1.70 favourite with bookmakers and lived up to expectations, cruising home by three-quarters of a length.

“Billy was in a beautiful spot, settled, and the speed was nice and steady which helped him run out the 2000 metres,” Michelle Payne said.

“He was racing on his own which allowed him to switch off and then he got the beautiful cart up and then he had every possible hope from there.”

It was the gelding’s 12th win, pushing his career prizemoney beyond $1.37 million, a testament to the stable’s methodical and longevity-focused approach.

“He really wants them to find the line and continue to have that spirit to race and Jimmy is a prime example of that,” Payne said of her brother’s training ethos.

“It’s a tough game and a lot of money goes into it with the owners and everything, but all we can hope for is delivering the best we can for the owners of these horses, so they can enjoy it.”

Stop The Rock, lightly raced but talented, overcame adversity to score again, making it four wins from five outings despite encountering trouble mid-race.

“When I was watching Billy and Stop The Rock down the back straight, I thought that might be his race done,” Michelle said.

“He was very tight against the rail, and he checked which disrupted his rhythm, so to overcome that, for a young horse, it was a good effort.”

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