On Saturday night the same horse was only a metre away from giving her a second Group 1 triumph.

Keayang Kreuzer ($8.50, Amanda Turnbull) nearly charged down Send It ($2.90, Brad Hewitt) in the $100,000 TAB Regional Championships State Final (2,300 metres) at Menangle, while favourite Ilikemebettor ($2.50, Luke McCarthy) arrived late on the scene in an exciting three-horse finish.

Hewitt's gelding qualified for the metro event courtesy of his win in the recent TAB Regional Championships Western Final at Bathurst Paceway and was once again drawn to figure in the finish after landing gate one - the same spot he won his heat from.

Keayang Kreuzer showed off his typical gate speed early in Saturday's finale when Amanda Turnbull - replacing heat winner Luke McCarthy in the gig - held out Nomorelying for the race lead.

Hewitt's runner didn't stay at the front for long though as Brad Hewitt worked Send It three wide around Nomorelying to challenge Keayang Kreuzer for the lead.

Ilikemebettor sat behind Keayang Kreuzer along the pegs and, once the outside line eventually sorted themselves out, The Choreographer got to the death seat.

Send It picked up the pace over the last half, with quarters of 27.9 and 26.9, and not many could go with him.

The Choreographer faded and that gave Turnbull the space she needed to peel out and challenge the leader.

Ilikemebettor had a head full of steam coming into the straight but initially had no room to manoeuvre before Keayang Kreuzer had created the void.

Together, Keayang Kreuzer and Ilikemebettor started to eat away at Send It's lead but there wasn't enough track at Menangle left for them to claim the win.

Keayang Kreuzer held out Send It by a metre to claim the runner-up result, and the handy $17,000 cheque that came with it.

Hewitt had better luck in the previous race when Kash Us Back ($4.20, Brad Hewitt) claimed the spoils in the TAB Regional Championships State Final Consolation (2,300m).

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