MULBRING trainer Sam Dimarco is a man who has had more than his fair share of tough times to deal with, but on Saturday night at the Bathurst Paceway he was able to forget those troubles as Shadow Runner took out the 2015 Gold Crown.

In one of the tightest finishes the two-year-old colts and geldings feature has seen over the last 29 years, Shadow Runner held off Dubbo’s Karloo Damajor and The Lagoon’s Sams The Master in a nail-biting final 100 metres.

The result triggered a flood of emotion from the Dimarco family and many others who were trackside for the headline act of the annual Bathurst Gold Crown Carnival.

With his wife battling cancer and having dealt with his own health issues and depression, Dimarco was delighted to pick up a Group 1 win.

That it came just over 12 months after he returned to the sport following an absence of more than a decade with a horse his daughter owned and with family friend Michael Formosa in the gig made it even better.

“I went through a bit of a hard time and my wife hasn’t been well, so we’ve had a bit of a tough time. But my daughter got me going again with the horses, so I thank Marissa for that,” Dimarco said.

“He is a beautiful horse, he is beautifully natured, I just love this horse. After my family, my daughter and my wife, Shadow Runner is my next love. Well I have got a son too, so I’d better put him in there.

“It was excellent, I honestly didn’t think we would be here. People said to me that we were a big chance with Shadow Runner but I didn’t think we could win. I have been friends with Michael Formosa for the last 18-20 years and he was very confident.

“He said to me after the heats to put him in cotton wool. He said he could win this race. I said to him ‘I’ll see if I can find a big roll somewhere’.”

Formosa’s drive in the $100,000 final was a bold one and it had to be after Shadow Runner had drawn the difficult barrier 10.

The reinsman had some luck when $1.80 favourite Bettermatch dropped a knee boot and galloped, but he showed plenty of skill as well as he added to his 2012 Gold Crown victory with Ultimate Art.

“I have been coming here [since] 2010 and I had such a great time I made it my life’s mission to try and win the Bathurst Gold Crown and I have been lucky enough to win it twice now, “ Formosa said.

“He had bad luck with the draw but it didn’t turn out too bad in the end. Bettermatch put a few wrong strides in and we were able to get around him and get him behind us which is the place to be.

“To tell the truth, I didn’t know if I had won or not until I got back to scale.”

It was as Bettermatch, who had drawn inside on the front row, broke stride and dropped back to fifth that Formosa decided to make his charge from the rear.

He followed Amanda Turnbull, who had the same idea with Sams The Master, and by the time the bell sounded for the final lap of the 1,730 metre contest that pair were at the head of the field.

Sams The Master held the lead by around half a length as they headed into the back straight, Turnbull keen to add a Gold Crown trophy to the Gold Tiara she had won some 30 minutes earlier.

She urged her chance through a 28.5 seconds third quarter but she could not shake Shadow Runner as a mere head separated them with 400m to go.

Machamillion, who had sat in the trail, looked a threat as driver Michael Muscat waited for the sprint lane, while Allnight Story (Bernie Hewitt) and Karloo Damajor (Mat Rue) were in striking distance as well.

As the field ran down the home straight it became a battle of three – Sams The Master on the pegs, Karloo Damajor surging out wide and Shadow Runner pushing through in between that pair.

In the end Shadow Runner ($4.50) got there by a nose to make it four wins from as many starts, with Karloo Damajor ($19) second and Sams The Master ($7.50) a half head further back.

The Shadow Play x Ayabacana gelding rated a flying 1:55.8 for the journey.