LEADING Sydney reinsman Robbie Morris has won his fair share of feature races . . . and it has been rare to see him show emotion after a race win.
But after knowing he had victory in his sights in last Saturday night's Group 2 $100,000 Bathurst Gold Chalice with the Michael Boots-owned Minos, his emotions certainly overflowed, denoting just how special it was for him to score his first major victory at a Bathurst Gold Crown Carnival.
"You have to love the Bathurst Carnival," said Morris.
"I have been coming here for a long time, attempting to win one of these big ones, so when I knew we had the Chalice in the bag I was pumped.
"The salute was for my young fellow Archie as well as Grant Dixon who were in Tamworth for the mini trotting championships.
"I had said to them earlier in the day that if I happened to get home in one of the big races, I would throw my whip in the air for them.
"That aside, it was a massive thrill, Minos is a nice gelding that deserved that win."
In scoring, Minos clocked 1:53.2 and turned the tables on race favourite War Dan Buddy, who had defeated him in the qualifying heat.
The win came after the gelding's solid New South Wales Derby campaign and he was well supported, starting at $5 on TAB fixed odds.
"We were impressed with his Derby run and he simply did what he had to do to qualify for the Chalice final on the Monday before," said Morris.
"When he came up with gate one for the final, I was quietly confident he would be in the race up to his ears.
"And KerryAnn (Rob's trainer and wife) had him spot-on for the occasion."
It was a fruitful weekend for his owner Michael Boots, who landed three winners at Bathurst followed by a further two at Wagga on Sunday.
Morris returns to regular programming at Penrith tonight where he has six drives on the nine-race program.
And he will be looking to start the night on a high when he partners the Troy Primmer-trained Dolce Drama in the Tab Venue Mode Pace.
Drawn in gate five, Dolce Drama was impressive in winning first up for her three-year-old campaign at Tabcorp Park Menangle 10 days ago, when she came from behind to overpower race favourite Snakeskin.
