AS Chris Frisby watched Our Uncle Sam take out the Group 1 Free For All at Menagle Park on Saturday night, he jumped in the air with his arms raised in triumph, his emotion clear to see.
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But for the Bathurst trainer and his driver-son Anthony, the moment was one to relish for a reason more important that having Our Uncle Sam successfully defend the Free For All crown he had won 12 months earlier.
It was because they were racing in memory of good family friend Christine Boserio.
"It's something unusual seeing Dad like that, it's usually the other way, him going crook at me," Anthony Frisby laughed.
"He was very happy, it felt real good because we lost a very close friend during the week, Chris Boserio. She had cancer for about 18 months and she ended up losing the battle on Monday.
"I got to wear the back armband for the race, so it was real good to be able to win it with that."
Twelve months earlier when Our Uncle Sam broke through for his maiden Group 1 win in the 2,400 metres Free For All at Menangle, he spent much of the journey in the death seat.
But on Saturday after initially settling one-out and one-back with the $5 equal favourite after going from barrier two - a rare good draw - Frisby decided to push for the lead.
He made his move as he did not want to get caught behind Luke McCarthy's equal favourite Bling It On.
But as it played out, it was a move which proved critical.
Frisby was able to take the lead heading into the back straight with the six-year-old Sportswriter x Rooftop Fairy gelding, early front runner Galactic Star handing up.
Our Uncle Sam settled some four metres in front of Galactic Star, but the pressure soon came.
The Black Prince ($5.50) closed to within three metres with 600m to go and as they hit the top of the home straight, the field bunched up.
With 150m to go The Black Prince was eyeballing Frisbys stable star, but Our Uncle Sam kicked and went on to win by 1.4m in a 1:54.4 mile rate.
"I was pretty happy in a way to sit in the one-one, but Luke sort of kept grabbing hold and grabbing hold and didn't want the death seat. I actually didn't want to go around, but I was worried something else would beat me around there, so I thought I'd better go," Frisby said.
"I just thought I'd put a bit of pressure on early and see what happens, I didn't think Galactic Star would actually hand up. Once he got in front he relaxed pretty good, he got some good, cheap quarters in and was too strong at the end."
While Our Uncle Sam again proved his strength as he got home in a 26.1 seconds final sectional to notch up his 20th win, Frisby admitted he thought he had left that burst of speed too late.
"I was pretty worried at the 400, when I seen I'd clocked a 29.1 quarter up the back I thought I'd went too slow actually," he said.
"Halfway down the straight I thought they were going to go past him, but he just kept kicking and kicking. Then I knew we were right.
"We are just lucky he got the draw, even though we didn't really use it. He was just in the running line from the get-go and we didn't have to panic too much to get across."
