Bernie Hewitt claims back-to-back Forbes Cup as Iamajoyride salutes in close battle

Iamajoyride led the whole way in the $15,000 feature but was pushed all the way to the line by her two rivals, who each finished less than 1.3m behind her.

Hewitt said it was a bold performance from his Lincoln Royal mare who had to put in the early work to retain her lead.

"She had to do work early to hold her lead and then copped some mid race pressure and then did well to hold them off at the end. There was a lot of merit in her win," he said.

"Once I got back under them on the first turn I felt alright, because she's fairly strong. A few tried to get across early so she did well to hold them off.

"After doing a lot of that work I wasn't so sure if she'd hold on, and I knew there were a couple back in the field who hadn't done any work and might have been a good chance of finishing off good.

"It was a bit of a step up in grade for her so she's done a good job."

Iamajoyride got away smoothly from the inside gate and held out Eagle Commander and Major Bracken to take control of the running.

Major Bracken pushed away to the death seat after being caught three wide, to sit ahead of Eagle Commander, and Karinya Rocco slotted in behind Hewitt's leader.

The big mid-race move came from Saint Emilion, who was urged forward by John O'Shea to sit at the front of the outside line.

The field fractured in the last lap when Iamajoyride, Major Bracken and Saint Emilion began to pull away and put nearly 15m on their rivals.

Major Bracken faded out of the picture to leave the race looking like a race of two on the turn for home.

However, Smooth Overarm broke clear of the chasing pack and at the top of the straight was just a couple of lengths off the pace.

Smooth Overarm finished with a serious turn of foot to finish just a half neck away from Iamajoyride.

The leading trio more than 23 metres clear of the rest of the field.

The winning mile rate was 2:00.3.

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