A SPECIAL horse, a special race and a special night.
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It was little wonder Phoebe Betts wore a huge grin on her face after steering Snoop Stride to success in the annual Ray and Olive McCarthy Memorial (1,730 metres) at the Bathurst Paceway on Saturday night.
A feature of the Bathurst Harness Racing Club's annual Boxing Day meeting, the McCarthy Memorial has been won by the likes of John and Luke McCarthy and Steve Turnbull in years past.
Betts was delighted to join that list thanks to a nine-year-old gelding that she has a soft spot for.
"It was pretty special to win on a night like this, it is my favourite meeting at Bathurst. So yeah, it was pretty special and he's a pretty special horse too," she said.
The veteran of the race as he lined up for his 276th career start, Snoop Stride was rated as a $15 chance after drawing barrier six.
After the green light was given he was caught wide early, so Betts opted to whip him up around the outside and Snoop Stride responded.
He rushed up to eye-ball leader Four For The Road as the bell sounded, that pair kicking away from the chasing pack.
Not quite having enough speed to cross Four For The Road to take up front spot, Betts ducked Snoop Stride into the trail.
With 600m to go Amused put on a burst of speed to pressure on the outside of Four For The Road, while at the same time the gap between the leader and Snoop Stride widened.
Betts admitted she was a little worried if Snoop Stride would be able to muster the speed he needed in the run home after the work he had done earlier.
But as it turned out, she need not have been concerned.
Betts waited for the inside run to come down the home straight and once in the clear, Snoop Stride unleashed his sprint. He hit the front with around 100m to go.
Snoop Stride went on to by 1.6m over Amused ($12, Cameron Hart) with Idle Hands ($51, Doug Hewitt) a further 2.6m back in third. The winning mile rate was a handy 1:57.6.
It was the 25th win of Snoop Stride's career and one Betts is sure to remember for some time.
"He done a bit of work, I was a bit worried, I thought he might be a bit vulnerable because he doesn't like doing much work, but yeah it paid off, he went good," Betts said.
"I sort of thought when I was travelling on the turn sitting on the leader's back I thought he'd be pretty hard to beat then. He got the run."
Amongst those offering applause as Phoebe Betts brought Snoop Stride back to the presentation area was her mother Monica Betts.
Just as Phoebe enjoyed the win, so too did her mother who trains the Stonebridge Regal x Our Vittoria gelding.
"That was lovely, I knew Ray and Olive really well and grew up with some of the kids and went to school with them, so that was beautiful. I'm very frigging excited," she said.
Like her daughter she admitted to some nervous moments as the field headed down the back straight for the final time, but she was delighted with the outcome and the drive.
"I was bit worried over the back, he sort of dropped off a bit, but he always has a go," she said.
"He's been a lovely horse and it was a good drive. It was great for her [Phoebe] to win it, she's done a great job with him."
While winning with Snoop Stride was the clear highlight of the evening for Phoebe Betts, the meeting also marked the first time she had driven in a Group race.
She steered the Chris Frisby trained Aphorism in the Group 3 Shirley Turnbull Memorial.
