A WELL-TIMED piece of riding from Mathew Cahill proved decisive in the Bathurst Cup (1,800 metres) on Sunday as he scored a close win with his chance Cardiff Prince at Tyers Park.

Cardiff Prince ($5.50) scored by a neck over Platinum Jack ($20), with early leader Spirit Mania ($8.50) a further three quarters of a length behind in the annual Bathurst Thoroughbred Racing feature race.

The winning five-year-old gelding only worked towards the front of the field when it mattered as Cahill showed patience. A storming run down the middle of the track secured Cardiff Prince’s seventh career win.

Successful Dubbo trainer Darren Hyde was happy that his runner was able take advantage of a kind weight allocation.

“He was good. He’d been looking for the 1,800 metres to 2,000 metres, but he got in good on the weights with the 54 kilograms. He sort of struggles when he gets to those 59s, because he’s not a big horse. With 54 kilograms I thought he was right into this,” he said.

“It wouldn’t have mattered today even if it was over 2,000 metres, he’d have still got to that. It was a good effort. Mathew Cahill, he’s the best in the business.”

Hyde confirmed Cardiff Prince will now be tried on Sydney tracks.

Earlier in the Bathurst Cup, Spirit Mania took up the running ahead of Strong Boy and Excited Lover as the field made their way down the front straight for the first time.

 Placegetter from the 2013 edition, Minh Khai, followed close behind that leading group.

Across the back of the track the field began to bunch up and Minh Khai worked hard to get alongside Spirit Mania out in front, who had backed off the tempo. 

But a number of jockeys weren’t content with the pace and decided to make their moves. 

Bee Plus and Platinum Jack were guided to the head of the field, while Rod’s Bid also put on some speed to be in contention as they turned for home.

Into the straight Platinum Jack and Spirit Mania continued to run on well and looked like they would battle it out for the honours.

That was until Cardiff Prince peeled out into the middle of the track to get a clear run home.

The trio went stride for stride over the final 100m, but Cahill and Cardiff Prince edged ahead and claimed the win.

It was Cahill’s third win in the Bathurst Cup, his victories spaced out over a long period with his past successes coming with On Deck (1996) and Wide And Blue (2000).

While it was a good effort from the Dubbo runner, Bathurst horses didn’t fare well.

Dean Mirfin’s Dashexpress as well as Paul Theobald’s All Sixes and Carinda Girl ended up occupying three of the bottom four spots on the finishers’ list.

Theobald claimed Bathurst’s only top-two finish of the meeting when Dunderry ($9) finished a half-length runner-up in the Bill Aspros Cup (1,200m) behind favourite Ultima Chance ($2.30).