The Albury conditioner Kym Davison has registered his debut win in the city on a marquee afternoon of the Sydney autumn carnival, securing it in an unforeseen fashion.
He sought to line up budding three-year-old Autumn Break in the $1 million Country Championships Final (1400m) but was unable to gain entry.
Serving as a backup runner, and with the need to be on hand in Sydney for emergencies, Davison paid to contest the Group 3 Carbine Club Stakes (1600m) as his Plan B.
“First city winner, so not a bad one to crack the ice with,” Davison said.
“I was hoping to be in the next race, but great consolation.
“I saw this race and said, ‘well, we’re going up there anyway, so we’ll go and have a throw at the stumps’.”
In addition to triumphing, Autumn Break ($8) got the verdict by the narrowest margin from the Chris Waller charge Kilman ($31), who was prominent throughout save the last moment, and Matias ($6.50) was a mere short head adrift in third.
This achievement came as a ray of light for the Davisons amid sorrow, as Kym’s brother lost his fight against sickness last week.
“It’s been a hard week. We lost my brother a week ago,” he said.
“He had been unwell for a while. But you’ve got to pick yourself up.”
With eight gallopers in his Albury yard, Davison will give Autumn Break a break before gearing towards The Kosciuszko (1200m) in an initial autumn push in October.
“The Kosciuszko, he’d go alright in that,” he said.
“His first start was over 1200, and he should have won that Highway (Handicap) here, that was 1200 first-up, so we’ll try to push onto that if we can.”
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