"FROM heavens above Bill Kemp and down to the line it's all Bill Shannon."
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Those were the words of race caller Michael Dumesny as Bill Shannon ran down the home straight of the Bathurst Paceway on Wednesday night on his way to victory as the sentimental favourite.
Bill Shannon's part owner and namesake Bill Kemp died two weeks ago, but Dumesny felt he was watching on as the gelding notched up his maiden win.
Following the race, Kemp's wife Karen took to Facebook thanking all involved and quoting Dumesny's touching words as the gelding crossed the finish line.
"It's Bills night tonight ... From heavens above Bill Kemp and down to the line it's all Bill Shannon."
She was not the only one to enjoy the win in what was Bill Shannon's 34th start either. His Bathurst trainer Peter Bullock was delighted as well.
"It was really nice to finally get a win with him," Bullock said.
"Bill had been watching his races from hospital, so we were hoping he [Bill Shannon] would win a few weeks ago. But his wife would have still been really pleased with Wednesday night's win."
Kemp and his wife leased a share in the gelding when he was a yearling after making the trip from Sydney to Bathurst to pick out their favourite from the Million Dollar Cam x Blissful Shannon crop.
"They came out to the farm one day and we had a look at the yearlings and tried to pick out one that seemed promising," Bullock said.
"They picked one and decided to name him Bill, so that's where the name came from."
While looking like being a nice horse at home, Bill Shannon just couldn't put it together at the track. That was until Wednesday.
"He was one of those horses where you'd go to the races thinking this will be the night and he'd end up running a nice fourth or third but couldn't crack that win," Bullock said.
"I was pretty confident on Wednesday night though. He was able to win quite comfortably and in a good mile rate for him too [1:58.6]."
Bill Shannon began equal favourite at $2.50 with the Peter Wood trained Prudent Master in the Bathurst Toyota Pace (1,730 metres).
Able to utilise his gate speed, the four-year-old gelding shot straight to the front where he was kept honest by Prudent Master but proved too strong in the run to the finish, scoring by 12.6 metres.
While Bill Shannon saluted as a favourite, earlier in the meeting Josh Powderly and Tom Pay then combined to win race two with Mah Koo Loo Queen ($21).
It was the mare's first start for the Powderly stable and not having driven her before, Pay wasn't sure what to expect.
"I didn't know much about the horse," he admits.
"Josh said before the race she will get home well if she's driven with a sit and she did, she went great."
Staying out of the early speed battle, the pair were able save their energy for the final 400m, unleashing the winning sprint. Mah Koo Loo won by half a neck over Our Emancipation.
