ALL eyes were on Nangar Gold in Monday's second event at Kennerson Park but $41 shot Simon Ralph stole the spotlight.
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Simon Ralph, trained by Rob Harrison, led from almost start to finish in the Fifty8 George 1-3 Wins Stakes (307 metres) and held off charging odds-on favourite Nangar Gold ($1.75, Dennis Barnes) by two lengths.
Harrison expected his dog to be in for a big fight about his more fancied rivals but once he got off to an unconventionally strong start he felt confident of success.
"I'm really happy. It's been a while coming," he said.
"He's been unlucky in his runs and he always gets into trouble. He tends to prefer Dubbo but that didn't matter today.
"He doesn't normally get away that well. I was worried he'd miss it today and hoped he'd come through if they run off on the corner. But he led it today and you can't beat him when he's in front."
Box four was a question mark for Simon Ralph.
I'm really happy. It's been a while coming.
- Rob Harrison
If he failed to get away quickly then there was every chance he'd be squeezed out of the contest, losing ground to the well-backed Nangar Gold and Chuckin' Pies ($6.50, Richard Griffiths) to his inside.
Chuckin' Pies got away fastest from the inside box but Simon Ralph was the next best away, quickly gaining ground on the early leader.
Simon Ralph passed Chuckin' Pies before the bend and gained some extra ground due to the rest of the field's misfortune.
Charming Meeka had been gaining ground on Chuckin' Pies before the pair got tangled, briefly holding up the field.
The messy moment gave Simon Ralph a four length break.
Nangar Gold shot past the pair and started to hunt down the leader into the home straight.
He gained back ground but not enough to prevent the upset, which came in a time of 17.84 seconds.